Kira's Birthday
by Nairobi-Harper
Summary: It's nearly Kira's birthday, and Chuckie is worrying about getting her a good present.
1. Worries

Author's note: From my memory, on Rugrats, the only adult who's birthday had been celebrated was Didi's, in 'Baking Dil.' However, celrock recently gave me the idea to write a story where Chuckie, Kimi, and Chaz celebrate Kira's birthday, to which I credit her for the idea. Thank you, celrock! In addition, the story title might change as I continue, and is planned to go on for three or four chapters before I decide to end it to continue other stories.

Considering how lazy I've been this past week, I am truthfully not sure of when the next chapter will be uploaded.

If you can, please tell me which story on my profile you would like me to write after I finish my next three stories. Thanks!

The title might change as this story goes on, just to warn you guys.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rugrats, and the fascinating series belongs to Klasky Csupo. I also do not own original characters Zack and Peter. If you're wondering what happened to Jesse in this story, he's out somewhere, and I'll leave it up to your imagination as to where. He will reappear in my next story, though.

 **Kira's Birthday**

 **Chapter one**

On an enthralling Wednesday afternoon in Yucaipa, three-year old Chuckie Finster, his younger sister, Kimi, and their father went to his best friend, Tommy Pickles' house. This was usually their daily routine, and they were rarely the only three there. Aside from Tommy's younger brother, Dil, their friends would often come over to Tommy's home, as well, along with one of the nicest girls in Yucaipa, Susie Carmichael, and Tommy and Dil's rotten cousin, Angelica. The blonde four-year old girl would often trick them and call them names, yet at the end of the day, they still saw her as a mentor of some sort. While Chuckie himself didn't understand why they continuously forgave Angelica for the previous situation that she had gotten them into, he supposed that it was because without her, their lives wouldn't be as fun.

By the time that Chuckie, Kimi, and Chaz, their father, had arrived, most of the others were already there. It was not like the three to come this late, and the babies, along with Tommy and Dil's mother, Didi, had begun to get worried that something was the matter. That is, before the three finally showed up. Chaz rung the doorbell while Kimi giggled. She was always joyful, it seemed, even when people did simple things. No one really knew how she did it, and instead left with the assumption that she was simply a cheerful child.

Tommy and Dil's mother, Didi, answered the door, and smiled once she saw the three.

"Sorry we're late, Didi," Chaz said immediately. "We were out shopping for Kira."

The last few words that he said could quickly and simply explain why Chuckie was unhappy and frowning. His sister, however, thought differently about the incident that had taken place, which was why she was still smiling. That, and joy was her main emotion.

"Shopping for Kira?" Didi asked. "Isn't she taking that brief vacation in Japan?"

It was true indeed that a few days ago, both Kira and her biological daughter, Kimi, had been invited to Japan by their relatives. Noticeably, they hadn't invited Kira's husband, Chaz, and her recently 'adopted' son, Chuckie. Considering that they, mainly Kira's father, were not too fond of Chaz, it wasn't much of a surprise. While none of the Finsters actually knew this, Chaz could sense it whenever Kira would have late night phone conversations with her father, discussing what was going on in Japan, and what was going on in California. To him, his wife's father's big, loud, voice whenever he talked about Chaz explained it.

On another note, however, Kimi unfortunately could not come along because she had gotten a cold. This struck surprise in the Finsters, as toddlers usually didn't get sick during the summer, though they did try their best to deal with it normally… aside from Chaz's occasional freak-outs. Kira, being a helpful mother, had offered to cancel her trip to Japan to stay home and take care of Kimi. Chaz, however, had decided that perhaps he should give his wife a vacation, and told her that no, he could take care of their two toddlers. While Kira had her doubts, he was convincing enough, and she ended travelling to visit her relatives.

Sweetness hadn't been the only reason that he had done this. Everyone, including Kimi and Chuckie, knew that Kira's birthday was coming up soon, and they wanted to secretly go shopping for her. If she were there, it would've been more difficult for them to do this secretly, and it wouldn't have been a surprise.

After Kimi's cold had gotten better, though not fully gone, they had finally gone shopping that morning, hoping to each find a good present for Kira, and that they would be finished in one to two hours. Not even this turned out to be enough time, as they spent four hours, from eight in the morning until twelve in the afternoon, shopping for Kira, mainly because none of them knew what to buy for Kira. While Chaz had had a few ideas in mind, the majority of them were either much too expensive, or simple.

That had landed them at the Pickles' home, hours after they had promised to be there.

"Yeah, it's been difficult since she went on vacation, which is mainly what I came here to talk to you about, aside from dropping Chuckie and Kimi off to go play with Tommy and the others while we have this discussion," Chaz explained.

Didi's face turned to look of concern.

"I can see that this is serious," Didi said. "I'll drop Chuckie and Kimi off in the playpen."

With that, she offered one of her hands to each of the toddlers, and walked them to the playpen, where the babies were playing with Tommy's ball. Smiling at the two, she opened the playpen and allowed them inside, before locking it again once they were now with their friends.

"Have fun, kids, and be good! Susie and Angelica will be coming over later, by the way!"

These were her last words before she walked back into the other room with Chaz, and led him to the dining room where they could discuss what had been going on recently.

Once they were sure that the adults were gone, they all began speaking to each other as usual.

"Ugh, Angelica's coming!" Lil complained.

Zack groaned.

"All she ever does is call us dumb and lie to us."

"It's almost like she can't be nice for more than a day," Phil acknowledged.

"Yucky!" Dil exclaimed, sticking his tongue out to represent how he felt about his older cousin after he said the word.

Since Kimi actually kind of liked Angelica, she, along with Chuckie, didn't say anything, just sitting there with an unsure look on her face. As for her brother, he sat in a corner, his face on his knees, frowning up. She would've asked him what was wrong, though she wanted to wait until the others actually took a second to realize they were there, and existed.

"Well, as mean as Angelica is, there's nothing we can do about it, at least not for a while," Tommy reminded them with a sigh.

"I agree with Tommy," Zack suddenly said. "Plus, if we keep complaining about her coming, then we won't get to play or anything, and then there won't really be a point in it, or of us even being here. We also forgot to say hi to Chuckie and Kimi, and we've never done that befores!"

The others frowned once they realized that they were right.

"Oh yeah," Lil said. "Sorry, guys."

"It's okay," Kimi said with a smile, glancing at Zack. "Me and Chuckie were just kinda waitin' for you guys to notice that we were here."

"Speaking of Chuckie, why does he look dead?" Phil asked.

"Yeah, Chuckie, what's the matter?" Tommy asked.

They indeed had a right to wonder what was wrong, as not only had the Finsters been late to come over, which even the Rugrats, whom didn't have much of a concept of time, could tell, yet their friend Chuckie hadn't spoken and seemed… out of it.

"Chuckie?"

No response came from the freckled three-year old, who just stared in one direction. His lack of response just made the 'Rats even more interested.

"What happened to Chuckie?" Lil asked, waving her hand in front of the three-year old's face, while looking at him with curiosity.

"Yeah, what happened to him, Kimi?" Zack asked.

While the blonde baby would've usually asked Chuckie himself what the matter was, in this situation, since Chuckie didn't seem to want to talk to anyone, he asked Kimi, instead. Since Kimi always tried not to be rude, he knew that she would answer.

"Well, Zack, I dunno, but, I think it has something to do with our mommy's birthday," Kimi explained.

"Wow Kimi, Chuckie, your mommy's birthday is comin' up?" Lil asked.

"Yep!" Kimi exclaimed happily, clapping. "My new daddy took me and Chuckie shopping earlier for a present for her, and since then, he's been all frowny faced."

"Well, maybe he wants a real good present for you guys' mommy," Tommy suggested.

"I think Tommy's onto something," Zack told them. "Chuckie, did you find a present for your mommy?"

Chuckie groaned, clearly battling in his head whether or not to speak to Zack. He didn't want to be rude, but right now he really didn't want to talk, either.

"No," Chuckie mumbled quietly.

"Well then, I guess that's what's wrong," Zack said. "If you're ready to talk, Chuckie, what exactly did happen, though? A description, please?"

Chuckie bit his lip, clearly not all that ready to explain why exactly he was so upset yet.

"Well, I guess Chuckie doesn't wanna tell us, let's get back to playing ball," Phil said after a minute of staring.

They were about to do as Phil said, until Chuckie randomly decided that he _did_ want to speak.

"Okay, okay!" Chuckie shouted. "Well, since my new mommy's birthday is comin' up soon, we had to go shopping today. And when we did, I looked and looked, but I couldn't find anything that I think my new mommy would want. But then I realized something."

"What?" Phil asked.

"I don't know what my new mommy wants," Chuckie mumbled sadly.

The others felt bad for him, and tried giving numerous suggestions to help. None of them liked to see their friend sad and scared.

"Well Chuckie, maybe get her something that you like," Lil suggested.

"Yeah," Phil agreed. "That's what me and Lil did for our mommy's last birthday, and she liked it when we gave her a worm. She laughed, too."

"Uh huh," Kimi said, she, too, trying to cheer her brother up. "Last year when I gave our mommy a present, it was something that I had gotten from outside. She sure did like it."

"Yeah, and my mommy always says that whatever present we think fits, does," Tommy explained.

"Guys, as much as I agree with you here, I don't think that's helping Chuckie," Zack acknowledged. "Chuckie, maybe you should think about what new mommy usually shows interest in when you're with her. You've been with her and Kimi for about a year, right?"

Chuckie nodded, his eyes closed and still not speaking. Zack, seeing this as a signal to continue speaking, did so.

"Then surely, if you spend enough time with your mommy, then you know what she's like."

As he said these words, Zack's expression did change, as he remembered that he didn't see his mother much, with his Aunt Celeste being with him around one-hundred percent of the time. That was why it kind of hurt him to say these words.

"Well, yeah, I kinda do, but even when we spend time with each other, we're usually doing what me and Kimi wanna do," Chuckie explained.

"Yeah, like all those times when our mommy taked us to the park," Kimi exclaimed, happy and pleasant as usual.

'Well, of course,' Zack thought. 'For a grown up and a kid that's kinda normal.'

"Well, I'm sorry that you guys don't know some of your mommy's interests," Zack said, trying to think of another suggestion. "Hey, guys, when's your mommy's birthday, anyway?"

Kimi giggled at this, knowing that Zack would most likely come up with another one of his excellent ideas.

"Daddy said that it's tomorrow, I think," Kimi answered immediately.

"Well, then, we need to come up with something that we can do by tomorrow," Zack acknowledged, sitting down. "Guys, let's brainstorm."

"What's that?" Phil asked.

Zack, who simply wanted Chuckie to get over his depressing state and to solve the problem, as opposed to Phil asking any questions, groaned.

"Brainstorming is when you think of some really good ideas," Zack explained. "The ones that don't make sense, you leave out. You brainstorm 'til you find the very best idea."

"Wow, Zack, that's a real big word," Kimi said in admiration.

Zack briefly smiled at her.

"Thanks, Kimi, I try to put as many big words into my vocabulary as I can," Zack explained.

"Why can't you just say what normal babies say, like 'think'?" Phil asked.

"Yeah," Lil said, truthfully a bit jealous. "You don't have to use such big words all the time."

Suddenly, the twins began bombarding him with questions that he either didn't know the answer to or didn't want to answer.

"Do you do it to look smart?"

"What's two plus two?"

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"What's the biggest number in the world?"

"What's Mr. Einsten's 'quation?"

"Exactly how old am I?"

"What's my shoe" –

"Guys, stop!" Zack finally yelled, losing his patience. "Not only do I not want to answer any of those questions, but I don't see how this is helping Chuckie at all!"

Kimi was now frowning at the twins, as she agreed with Zack.

"Yeah, and no 'fense, guys, but that was kinda mean, too," Kimi said.

"Oh," Phil said. "Well sorry Zack and Kimi. Sorry, Chuck."

"Uh huh, sorry you guys," Lil said.

Zack closed his eyes, still a bit frustrated from their constant questioning from before.

"Just… don't do it again, you two," Zack insisted. "Anyway, guys, let's get back to brainstorming so that we can help Chuckie."

After a few minutes of thinking, Lil came up with something.

"Hey, why don't we make a mug?" Lil suggested.

Tommy, deciding that this time, he wanted to answer, did so.

"Well, uh, sorry, Lil, but, that's gonna take too long, and 'cording to Kimi, we only have 'til tomorrow," Tommy reminded her.

"Oh, yeah," Lil said.

"Sorry, Lil, but I agree with Tommy, maybe we can do that when we're a bit older, maybe about five or six," Zack suggested.

"Yeah, it was a pretty dumb idea, Lillian," Phil stated.

Lil, upset that her brother agreed with the two, and that they were unable to do what she wanted, crossed her arms and began arguing with Phil.

"Still better than any of your ideas have ever been, _Phillip_ ," Lil angrily stated.

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Not!"

"Too" –

" _Really_ , could you guys just be quiet and stop fighting?" Zack finally groaned out of frustration. "If all you're going to do is argue while we actually try to do something, then maybe you two should go somewhere else and do that while we actually help Chuckie and solve the problem!"

"Fine," the twins both said, crossing their arms and looking away from each other.

Zack, still a bit frustrated, tried to continue thinking up ideas.

"Well, maybe Chuckie can get our mommy some flowers from Tommy's backyard," Kimi suggested. "I think that's what I'm gonna do if a better idea doesn't come up."

She then giggled. Zack smiled at her for this. With how stressful everything was, with trying to help Chuckie find a gift, and the twins' exasperating behavior, someone positive could really be helpful.

"I think it's a good idea to start with," Zack said.

Kimi, glad that Zack liked her idea, smiled widely at him.

"Thank you, Zack," she said, giggling a bit louder than she usually did.

Tommy, agreeing with the idea as well, smiled, prepared to shout his line.

"C'mon, babies, we're goin' for a liftoff!" Tommy shouted.

"Not so fast, Tommy," Chuckie exclaimed. "I really like my new mommy, and I really wanna find her a present 'fore tomorrow comes, but what if this all goes wrong? What if she doesn't like the flowers, and what if we can't even get outside anyway?"

"Chuckie, stop bein' silly," Tommy told him. "Your new mommy will like whatever you give her, cuz she's a real nice person, and as for all that other stuff, it's not like it's ever stopped us befores."

"Well, Tommy, on some of those points there, I agree with you, but on others, not so much," Zack told him. "I love venturing as much as the next baby, but we should plan this out first, or else we might get hurt like Chuckie said."

"Well, okay," Tommy said, a bit disappointed, as he was used to going on adventures without plans.

"So, Tommy, Dil, your mommy is in the kitchen with Chuckie and Kimi's dad, right?" Zack asked, wanting to make sure before he continued.

"Uh huh," Dil said, smiling after getting those two words out.

"Well, uh, I think so, cuz I heard my mommy say that she was gonna fix Chuckie and Kimi's daddy some tea," Tommy recalled.

"Okay, good, and, I've only been over here a few times since I'm sorta new to this group, and I'm pretty sure that I haven't been here for even a whole month yet, but, every time I come over, your mommy doesn't check on us unless she hears a noise, like if someone starts crying," Zack acknowledged. "And that someone is usually Dil."

"Yeah, Dilly, this time, could you try not to cry if we go outside?" Tommy asked his younger brother. "This is real important to Chuckie, and we really wanna help him. Please?"

Dil looked confused for a minute, and seemed a bit cross that he would have to stay quiet even if he needed a diaper change, though he then saw the look in Tommy's eyes, and agreed.

"Okay, Tommy," Dil said, for once saying his older brother's name right.

Tommy smiled at him.

"Okay, Zack, if you got anything else to say, continue, cuz just like everyone else, I wanna get to venturing soon," Tommy said.

"I have an idea," Kimi said with a huge smile, wanting to impress them, mainly Zack.

"Sure, Kimi, what is it?" Zack asked.

The other babies listened to Kimi, as while her ideas were never as intelligent as Zack's, nor as dangerous as Tommy's, they were usually creative or imaginative. Of course, being a toddler, her imagination was huge, with it often full of dragons and numerous ideas. However, her ideas could vary from imaginative and impossible to do in real life to just as intelligent as Zack's were sometime. Perhaps this might be one of those times.

"Well, me and Chuckie can sorta talk to the growed ups since he's three and I'm two and three quarters," Kimi reminded them. "So, even though it might not be as fun, maybe we could scream for the growed ups, and then we can point to the stuff outside, and, maybe Tommy's mommy will pick up our signal."

Zack, once again, smiled at the girl, his eyes lighting up at her idea.

"Well, that's a pretty good idea you got there, Kimi, and even though I don't like screaming all that much, it still isn't as dangerous as it would be if we tried to escape from the patio door," Zack recognized.

"Finally someone agrees with me," Chuckie mumbled.

"No 'fense, Kimi, but doesn't that kinda take the fun out of venturing?" Tommy asked.

"Well, Tommy, I like going on adventures almost as much as you do, but, I have to agree with Kimi here," Zack told him. "If one of us gets hurt, then we're all going to look back to Kimi's idea, and think, 'now, why didn't we do that earlier?' I'm guessing you don't want that to happen, right?"

"Well, no, but, I sorta feel like it's holding us back from what we can actually do."

"Tommy, point is, our original idea was a lot more dangerous. Besides, it's not like we're not going to have a lot of fun outside."

"Well, I guess you're right, but next time I don't wanna do it this way."

"Well, okay, I'm just glad that at least we're not going to spend the rest of this whole day arguing about this."

"Yep, cuz we don't gots any time to waste!" Tommy said. "Anyways, babies, are ya ready to scream?"

"Boy am I ever!" Phil exclaimed, chuckling.

"I love screaming," Lil whispered.

"On your marks, get set, go!" Zack shouted.

At this point, they all screamed, though none of them got too out of control, and the majority of screams weren't very loud, excluding Phil, Lil, and Dil's screaming.

Just as expected, Didi and Chaz ran into the room at this point.

"Oh, no, what's wrong with the kids?" Chaz asked.

"I don't know, Chaz, but, they sure are loud," Didi said.

If she weren't such a good mother, she probably would've covered her ears at this point.

Once they realized that the adults were now with them, they began pointing outside.

"What are they pointing to?" Didi asked, trying to figure it out.

"Oh, well, Deed, I think they wanna go outside," Chaz realized after he looked carefully.

The Rugrats, pleased to see that one of the adults understood what they wanted to do, smiled and clapped.

"I suppose it might be a little too hot in here," Didi said. "Why not? They can go outside."

With that, she opened the patio door and allowed them each to walk out, with the exception of Dil, whom she picked up because he couldn't walk yet.

"Well, Deed, maybe we should move closer to the kids incase they start crying again," Chaz suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Didi said. "Let's sit outside at the tables. I'll get our tea, you can watch the kids."

She walked back inside, closing the patio door behind her so that bugs wouldn't fly inside, and went into the kitchen to get the tea that she had brewed for she and Chaz. They had been halfway into their discussion before they heard the babies/toddlers screaming, to which they took care of the situation immediately.

While he was outside, Chaz sat at the small, white, table that the Pickles owned, and, while he did watch the babies as requested of him, he squinted while doing so. Of course, since it was summer, it was rather hot outside today, with the sun blazing. The redhead thought of going to the beach soon with his family. At this point of summer, whereas Chuckie and Kimi would be starting preschool soon, he thought it would naturally be good for them to get out all that they could.

Didi had been gone long enough for him to think about these things. Once she came back with the tea, she took a long glance at the babies to make sure that they were alright now, smiled, and sat down with Chaz so that they could continue their discussion about Kira's birthday.

"And Deed, I know I've said this a million times, but I just don't know what to get her," Chaz complained, stressed out. "We even went shopping for two full hours and you know what happened in the end? None of us got her anything because I don't know what she wants, and it seems that Chuckie doesn't, either."

Didi, who was trying to keep Chaz from passing out because of so much stress, attempted to comfort him.

"Well, what about Kimi, does she know what to get Kira?" Didi asked.

"I'd like to believe so," Chaz told her. "I think I saw her eyeing some gifts at the store, and she wanted to get Kira this teddy bear but it was one-hundred and forty dollars! Nearly gave me a heart attack just to see the price of a teddy bear. I mean, this was a _teddy bear_ , Didi, a teddy bear, not a vintage Cynthia doll!"

At this point, Chaz was taking deep breaths, as he was rather stressed out, wanting the best for his wife. The last thing in the world that he wanted was to get her a gift that she disliked.

As for Didi, she nearly choked on her tea once Chaz told her the price. She found it hard to believe that a teddy bear would be that pricey, though a Cynthia doll from the fifties was indeed up for around five thousand, so perhaps it shouldn't be all that difficult to think about.

"How did Kimi react to not being able to get Kira that pricey teddy bear?" Didi asked. "Oh, and Chaz, at this point, you might want to take your inhaler. I fear what will happen if you don't."

Chaz, nodding, took two puffs from his asthma inhaler, and indeed calmed down.

"Kimi nearly threw a tantrum in the store," Chaz said, frowning. "She's usually so happy, and I rarely see her act up, so that kind of surprised me there. Her tantrum wasn't bad enough for me to have to take her out of the store, goodness no, considering how pleasant she is to be around, the majority of her tantrums are just a lot of crying and the occasional kicking, but this time, she just groaned a little and stomped her feet. After about two minutes, she got over it. I still don't understand why she's been a bit moodier than usual lately."

"Well, Dr. Lipschitz published a book on this," Didi told him. "It was very recent, only came out two days ago, so you probably haven't read it yet. In his book, he said that around the ages of two and three, toddlers often throw many tantrums whenever they don't get their way. He said that as long as they're not physically harming anyone, it's best to ignore the tantrums, because they'll tire out."

"Yeah, well, Kimi's tantrum was barely even a tantrum," Chaz said. "More of some groaning and she stomped her boots while we walked throughout the whole store until I put her in the shopping cart. Then she calmed down."

"Tantrums, even when they're as small as Kimi's, are ways of expressing anger," Didi acknowledged. "Kimi is a very happy girl, always smiling, so I doubt that unlike some people, her tantrums will stop as she grows into a grade-schooler. However, they will probably occasionally come back up in her pre-teen and teen years when she'll be going through… well, you know."

"My gosh, please don't remind me of that," Chaz groaned. "I had better just face it, Deed. Kimi's going through the last few stages of the terrible two's, and at least next month she'll go into her horrendous three's. And my oh my, about Chuckie…"

At this, the man shuddered, barely being able to imagine how she might change once she got into her horrendous three's.

Meanwhile, the babies were congratulating Kimi on her plan, as it had worked, and got the adults' attention without any danger.

"I'm glad that there wasn't any real danger, so, thanks for that, Kimi," Chuckie told his sister, opening his mouth to speak for the first time in a few minutes.

"I'm sorry for doubting and objecting your plan, Kimi, cuz it worked real well," Tommy acknowledged.

Phil chuckled.

"Yeah, I loved screaming," Phil said.

"Me too!" Lil added in. "But I screamed louderer."

At the very idea, Phil crossed his arms, completely prepared to argue with his twin.

"Did _not,_ Lillian," Phil insisted.

"Did too, Phillip!" Lil shouted.

"Nuh uh!"

"Uh huh! Uh huh times a gazillion plus the worstest ice cream in the world!"

"Gross, Lillian!"

The others ignored their short argument as they continued to congratulate Kimi, who was smiling shyly and twirling her boot.

"Yeah, the others are right, Kimi, your idea was really smart, and I'm starting to think that maybe you should be the one coming up with the ideas instead of me," Zack suggested jokingly.

The toddler blushed as her friends complimented her.

"Well, gee, guys, thanks for all the compliments," she said, giggling, though still blushing. "'Course I figure you, Tommy. I was thinkin' about putting a little more 'venturing into it, too. And, Zack, nah, sometimes my ideas wouldn't really work. Yours usually work better. As for everyone else, thanks a lot! But, didn't we come out here so that Chuckie and me can pick flowers for our mommy?"

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgotted about that," Lil said.

"Well, c'mon, babies, let's go pick flowers!" Tommy exclaimed.

They all went over to pick a few flowers.

"I got a boring old violet," Chuckie complained.

"Well, I like violets," Kimi said, smiling. "They're real pretty!"

"Most flowers are pretty, Kimi," Phil reminded her.

"Well, sure they are, but Phil, you gotta take a few minutes out of each day to appreciate nature and how pretty everything is," Kimi said, sniffing a rose. "Mm! Roses!"

"What type of flower is this?" Lil asked, holding up a large, yellow, flower. "Cuz it sure smells bad!"

Zack sniffled, before wrinkling his nose.

"No, I think that's Dil's diaper," Zack said, covering his nose.

The others, beginning to smell this as well, covered their noses, too.

"Dil, couldn't you have waited?" Tommy asked, a bit annoyed.

"Yeah, smells like a barn in here," Phil complained.

While the other babies complained about Dil needing a diaper change, the youngest of the group himself crossed his arms, upset that they were blaming him for something that was natural.

"Hmph," Dil said, not exactly clarifying what he was upset about, though one could guess. "Tommy said no crying, so I didn't."

"Well, boy, am I sorry for telling you that now, Dilly," Tommy said while holding his nose. "You sure are a stinky baby!"

The smell itself couldn't get past the adults, as Didi sniffled and realized that one of the babies was in need of a diaper change.

"What's the matter Dee… _oh,_ " Chaz said, covering his nose.

"I think my little man needs a diaper change," Didi said, walking over to Dil and picking up. "Y'know, that's strange. Dil usually cries whenever he needs to be changed. Maybe today he decided to give mommy a break. Now, sweetie, that's nice, but next time cry to alert mommy, mm'kay?"

"Flower," Dil said as Didi carried him inside.

The seven-month old finally, despite what his older brother had made him promise not to do, began crying as Didi carried him inside.

"Now, now, Dil, calm down, sweetie, mommy's about to get you a nice ole diaper change," Didi promised her younger son, attempting to calm him down. "My goodness, we need to tone down on the foods that we feed you!"

However, since this was not the main reason that he was crying, tears continued to pour down the seven-month old's face.

The others couldn't help though feel sorry for both he and Didi. They felt bad for Dil because he had dropped his flower, and Didi because she would have to calm him down before he could come back outside.

"Don't worry, Didi, I'll watch the kids to make sure that nothing dangerous happens!" Chaz shouted after her, though the woman was so keen on soothing Dil that she didn't hear him.

Chaz walked over to them, and smiled once he saw that they were picking flowers. However, this smile soon turned to a small frown once he remembered his first wife, Melinda.

"Melinda used to love these," Chaz mumbled.

All of the 'Rats, excluding Chuckie, whom knew exactly who his father was talking about, gave him a look of confusion.

Chaz was about to explain to the Rugrats who Melinda was, until someone knocked on the door.

RUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATS

I apologize for not only being many days late on this chapter, though also for leaving this first chapter here on a cliffhanger. I hope to update this quickly, as I do indeed have the story planned out, and feel that you guys have been waiting long enough. Once this story has ended, after about four or five chapters, I'm going to move onto my story 'Alternate Ending of a Step at a Time', and after that, I'm going to try to publish my first Inside out story. I've been interested in the movie for months.

If you have wonders as to where the heck I've been lately, I can't really answer that. I don't really know where I've been myself. All that I do know is that I've been tired lately, and will actually probably go straight off to bed after uploading this, or at least hope to. Sure, it's a little early for me, since it's eleven pm and I'm usually in the bed at four in the morning, but I'm going back to school soon, and you can always make a change, right? Anyway, gonna end this chapter right here, and I hope to update tomorrow.

For any Big Hero 6 fans, I'm also going to try to see that movie soon, and I saw Jurassic World recently. Wonderful movie.

Feel free to review or send me a private message if you think something's wrong.

Anyway, peace out, guys, and, I'll catch you all tomorrow!


	2. Chuckie Stands Up

Author's note: Once again, thank you all so much for the support during this story. My babysitting gig two days ago went great, for any of you that were wondering. Sure, some parts were a little rocky, and the two-year old that I was babysitting was rather energetic, but overall, it was just, great, and I'll probably be babysitting him again soon. Not sure if any of you noticed, but I updated my other story 'Bad Haircut,' just in case you want to check that out. I hope to upload both this chapter and chapter three either today or tomorrow, and then, I'll upload chapter four. At this point, not exactly sure when this story will end, but it certainly won't reach ten chapters, because not only do I really need to move on, since my mother's birthday was nearly two weeks ago, though also because TCKing12 has requested that I, in the most simple of words, write one of my three stories in which his original characters are the main characters. TCKing12, if you're reading this, I'll probably write 'King' first, since I've had that plot planned out for months. Anyway, guys, I know I already said this, but really, thanks for all the support, and, now let's move on to chapter two of 'Kira's Birthday!'

 **Kira's Birthday**

 **Chapter two**

Both the babies and Chaz heard this knock on the door. Chaz, getting out of the moment, stood back up and began walking inside.

"I'll get it, kids, don't worry about it," Chaz told them.

Meanwhile, inside, things still weren't much better with getting Dil to calm down. The seven-month old was kicking and screaming, while Didi attempted to change his diaper as quickly as possible. To do this, however, she needed him to calm down.

"Now, Dil, sweetie, calm down, please, mommy's a bit stressed right now," Didi told him.

This didn't stop Dil from doing anything, though. He continued screaming loudly and kicking his tiny feet up in there, not even closing his mouth for a second. Not only did he have a dirty diaper, though now he had to drop his flower, and he wanted it in his hands. Because of both these things, he couldn't help but to be angry, and refused to stop screaming, even at his mother's every attempt.

Didi glanced away for a second and noticed that Chaz was now inside.

"Chaz, you didn't leave the kids outside, did you? What's happening!?"

"Didi, it's nothing to worry about," Chaz told her calmly. "Someone rang the doorbell, and I see that you're busy, so I'm just answering it for you."

Didi sighed, and was indeed sorry for snapping at Chaz, though when she had nearly ten children sitting outside, and a screaming baby, things weren't so easy for her, either.

Chaz, understanding this, simply walked to the door and looked through the peephole. He saw that it was Angelica and Susie, along with their mothers, Charlotte and Lucy, standing at the door. Charlotte, as usual, was on her phone, talking to her assistant, Johnathon, while Lucy was standing there, holding Susie's hand, and smiling. Chaz immediately noticed that both of their daughters, Angelica and Susie, were holding new toy boxes.

"Hi Lucy, hi, Charlotte," Chaz said to the two adults, looking up at them.

"Why, hello, Chaz, I think you know why we're here today," Lucy said with a smile.

"Oh, trust me, I do," Chaz told her.

Charlotte glanced away from her phone for a second, realizing that the door had been opened.

"Johnathon, I'll talk to you later," Charlotte told the man over the phone.

The man mumbled something incoherent, to which Charlotte simply hung up on him, before looking back at Chaz.

"Hello, Chaz, sorry I didn't notice you there. Was just on the phone, talking to Johnathon."

"It's okay, it happens all the time."

"Anyway, Lucy and I are here to drop off my darling Angelica, and Susie. Deed's inside, right?"

"Yeah, but Dil's a little fussy, and she's trying to change his diaper."

Lucy shook her head, chuckling a bit.

"Children are always the hardest to deal with, especially when they're not even a year old," Lucy remarked.

"Anyway, Chaz, we're sorry to leave so suddenly, but I've got a serious business meeting and Lucy here has to get back to the hospital or whatever, so we're just going to drop Angelica and Susie off here," Charlotte said.

Both Charlotte and Lucy gave their children a sign of affection before they left. Charlotte leaned down and kissed Angelica on the cheek.

"Now, Angelica, you be good, and don't give your aunt Didi any trouble while you're over," Charlotte ordered. "You know how much stress she's in right now, and all. Oh, and make sure to show your little friends the new super duper expensive Cynthia playset that I bought you!"

"Of course, mummy dearest," Angelica said in her fakest tone possible, batting her eyelashes and smiling widely, while holding her Cynthia playset box in one hand.

While Susie took notice of this and glared at Angelica, Angelica just stuck her tongue out at Susie, though quickly pulling it back in so that neither of the adults would see this rude act.

Lucy hugged Susie, to which her four-year old daughter hugged her back. After a few seconds, Lucy finally leaned back up, smiling.

"Same to you, Susie," Lucy told her. "I wouldn't like to hear Didi calling me if you get in trouble, which, luckily, rarely happens, if ever."

Susie smiled joyously at her mother, this smile not being fake.

"Don't worry, mom, I won't get into any trouble, and I'll be a good girl," Susie insisted.

"Oh, Susie, I can always count on you," Lucy said, before looking back up at Chaz. "Well, Chaz, I wouldn't like to be late, there are lives to save!"

"Me neither, because as I said, this is a very top important business meeting," Charlotte said, rolling her eyes at how importantly Lucy treated her job.

"Well, okay, you two, have fun at your business meeting," Chaz said, as Angelica and Susie walked inside.

"Bye, mom!" Susie called to her mother, waving her hand and smiling.

Angelica, not wanting Susie to ever upstage her, did the same.

"Bye, mommy!" Angelica said, smiling as wide as she could and waving, as well.

"Goodbye, Susie!" Lucy shouted, waving her hand as she opened her car door.

"Bye bye, Angelica, sweetie!" Charlotte yelled, giving her fake kisses as she closed her car door and started up the engine of her car.

Chaz closed the door shut before the two cars had driven away.

"Well, that was odd," he mumbled to himself.

"Thank you for letting us inside, Mr. Finster," Susie said, smiling up at the man.

Once again, Angelica refused to let Susie Carmichael ever upstage her, and did the same.

"Yeah, thank you just so much, Mr. Finster," Angelica said, attempting to sound cute.

"Oh, well, you're welcome, you two," Chaz said. "By the way, you girls might wanna leave Didi alone and go right outside. She's having a little trouble with Dil right now."

Angelica sniffed.

"Ewe!" she exclaimed. "You're right, she _is_. That dum – I mean, my wonderful baby cousin Dil, seems to need a diaper change."

Chaz, either not hearing or ignoring that Angelica had nearly slipped her words, instead just nodded.

"But, you should still leave her alone, because since Dil is screaming so much, it's difficult to change his diaper," Chaz explained. "Anyway, all of your little friends are outside playing, and once Dil has calmed down, he'll join them. I suggest that you go outside and join them while I try to help Didi with Dil."

Usually, Angelica would stick her tongue out at the idea, or roll her eyes and refuse, though this was an adult, and she always liked to put on a nice demeanor in front of the adults. Therefore, instead, she kept the huge smile on her face, while Susie smiled, as well.

"Mr. Finster, that would be just wonderful, but can't me and Susie say hello to aunt Didi first?" Angelica asked, once again batting her eyelashes to get what she wanted. "It'd be rude of us if we didn't. Right, Susie?"

Susie, understanding exactly what was going on since she had to deal with Angelica every day, gritted her teeth.

"Right," Susie said, angrily gritting her teeth as she glared at Angelica.

Chaz looked unsure of Angelica's idea for a minute, as he put a finger on his bottom lip, though decided that to avoid the four-year old throwing a tantrum, he'd allow them to politely greet Didi.

"Well, alright, kids," Chaz said. "C'mon in, but, remember, just like I said, don't bother her, she's going through a lot of stress right now."

Even though both of the girls nodded, supposedly in understanding, Angelica had plans of her own, grinning when she thought Susie and Chaz weren't looking. While Chaz hadn't been looking, Susie had, and cast Angelica another glare in her direction, to which Angelica stuck her tongue out and made a silly face. To Susie, this didn't seem to be a failed attempt to make her laugh, and, since Angelica was her rival, she saw it as more of Angelica mocking her, which caused Susie to scowl. Angelica was about to respond, most likely with anger, though they then reached the room.

"Here's Didi and Dil," Chaz told the girls.

Didi, however, took no notice of any of them, with her attention mostly on Dil, who still wouldn't stop screaming.

'Whoa,' Angelica said, secretly admiring from afar how long her cousin could scream. 'His lungs are gonna break if he keeps crying so loud!'

At this point, she was stressed enough to nearly begin crying, and finally found the diaper packaging on the floor, to which she picked it up and took out a diaper, attempting not to cry. While she certainly wasn't a first-time mother, she couldn't recall Tommy ever being this loud, and truth be told, it annoyed her to the brink of no end. If she had no control over her emotions, she would've told him to shut up by now.

"Umm, Didi," Chaz said, waving his hand in an attempt for her to notice that the three were standing there.

Susie turned to Angelica with a look of concern.

"Angelica, I don't think this is such a good time," Susie whispered.

Angelica scoffed and rolled her eyes, not caring much that her aunt was stressed.

"Carmichael, at least be polite," Angelica whispered back. "My mommy always tells me to have my manners. It'd be real rude if we didn't at least say hello to Aunt Didi."

While this wasn't fully Angelica's intention, what she was saying at least had some truth to it. She didn't want to let her mother down today, and was in a better mood than usual.

"I'm not saying that we shouldn't do it because it's polite, I'm saying that we shouldn't do it because your aunt Didi is stressed enough already," Susie explained.

"Didi?" Chaz asked once again, before whispering to the girls. "Maybe now isn't such a good time."

"Nonsense, Mr. Finster, it's always a great time to be polite!" Angelica shouted, finally getting the attention of Didi.

Having not noticed them, she was a bit frightened at first, though got over it once she realized that both her niece and one of the nicest children in Yucaipa were at her home, calming her down. She thought that she was calm until Dil began crying even louder because Angelica was not only there, though had also yelled.

"Oh, sorry, girls, I didn't notice you there," Didi said, attempting to be heard over Dil's loud screaming, which, at this point, she was, even if it was only for a second, beginning to ignore. "Maybe now isn't such a good time? I'm trying to change Dil's diaper, you see."

"Yeah, Aunt Didi, we sure can smell that," Angelica said, disgusted by the smell of Dil's former diaper. "But _I_ just wanted to be super extra polite and say hello to you, so hello, Aunt Didi."

Susie gave Angelica a 'now isn't a good time' glance, though managed to get the words out, as well, smiling widely as she did so.

This didn't make Didi any calmer, only making her even more stressed as she thought about the fact that she now had two more children to babysit. However, she did appreciate that they were at least trying, and managed to force a fake smile at the two girls, while trying to channel out Dil's screaming, which didn't prove to be such a good idea.

"Why, thank you, girls," Didi told them. "I really appreciate the thought. But, don't you think it would be fun to go outside and play with the babies? I bet they sure are missing you right now, and I really am busy with trying to stop Dil's _very_ loud screaming, and change his dirty diaper, so why don't you two go outside and play?"

'I hope that didn't come out too rudely,' Didi thought.

While Susie was perfectly fine with playing with the babies, which had been her main intention when she came over, Angelica was disgusted by the very idea.

'Those dumb babies always ruin everything,' she thought. 'Why the heck would aunt Didi want me to play with them?'

Glancing at Susie, she rolled her eyes, though did it quickly, so that she wouldn't be noticed by Chaz or Didi.

"Well, alright, Mrs. Pickles, that's perfectly fine with me," Susie said, smiling. "What about you, Angelica?"

This last part coming from the four-year old was sarcastic in every way, and it irked Angelica that Susie still had a huge smile planted on her face, even when she was being sarcastic.

"That's just fine with me," Angelica said, this time being the one who was gritting her teeth. "Yay."

Didi, misinterpreting this, got out the closest thing to a smile that she could as she went back to Dil, putting his new diaper on. While the seven-month old's crying toned down a bit, it didn't stop completely, to which Didi sighed.

"Chaz, could you go get the radio?" Didi asked.

In some situations, he would've asked why she could've gotten it, though being the nice man he was, he understood, and walked out of the room to grab a radio for Didi to play Dil some music, since it seemed that even her lullabies couldn't get him to stop crying.

Angelica, deciding to start up a conversation, frowned at the sight.

"Awe, Aunt Didi, I'm sorry that my wonderful little cousin Dil won't stop crying," Angelica said in her fakest 'sweet' tone. "Didn't you try singing him a lullaby? My mommy says that always helped when I was his age."

The four-year old blonde didn't admit that not only had her mother never told her this, though that her actual mother was usually too busy on her phone to sing Angelica any lullabies that she remembered. She had simply heard Susie's mother say this, and decided to steal this line to relate to the situation that her aunt was going through.

Susie, being as observant and smart as she was, quickly realized this, trying to keep herself from yelling at Angelica, simply letting out a few groans.

"Yes, Angelica," Didi said tiredly. "I tried singing him quite a few lullabies, but whatever he's unhappy about, he's choosing to stay unhappy about it. The radio is basically my last resort before I might have to… no, I shouldn't think that, you should never leave a child to cry on their own. I'm just really stressed, and I think I'm not going to have a good sleep tonight at all."

Hearing this, Susie frowned, sympathizing with the adult.

"Mrs. Pickles, you only do what you want to do, so if you say that, then you're basically saying that you want to not have a good sleep tonight," Susie reminded her.

These words of wisdom made Didi beam and Angelica jealous.

"Why, Susie, thank you!" Didi shouted, only to realize that none of this was helping Dil. "I'll think of that tonight."

Angelica rolled her eyes once she heard this, thinking of Susie as somewhat of a kiss-up.

It was nearly as if, on cue, Chaz came back in with the radio that Stu had bought, and set it down.

"Sorry that it took so long, Didi," Chaz told her. "I couldn't exactly find it at first."

However, Didi wasted no time in listening to what he had to say, and though it was rude, she needed to get Dil to stop screaming. It was very annoying, in her opinion, and was hurting her ears. She passed through her 'Sherry Berry' playlist, before landing on a song that she thought ought to make Dil tired.

"Is she going to play that dumb Sherry Berry song?" Angelica asked, rolling her eyes.

While she had never truthfully found Sherry Berry's music dumb, Angelica always found a way to usually be against what the babies wanted. She truthfully had forgotten long ago why she did this, though she supposed that it was all in the fun of fooling the babies.

Susie, who actually liked Sherry Berry, since the singer was rather popular with her family, and had learned to love it during the four years that she had lived, scoffed once she heard Angelica say this. To her, it seemed as if Angelica always had to be against good things. Susie considered Sherry Berry's music to be soothing and wonderful, and it sort of hurt to hear someone trash talk the artist.

"It's not dumb, Sherry Berry is an inspiring music artist with a bunch of tracks that you can't beat," Susie argued.

Since she did feel sorry for saying what she had said, hearing Susie insult she herself hurt, as well, which only caused Angelica to get even angrier, instead glaring at the girl.

'Is she saying that I can't sing better than that lousy artist, Sherry Berry?' Angelica thought, raging at the idea. 'I'll show her! I'll show all those dumb babies, too!'

"Carmichael, are you sayin' that I'm a bad singer?" Angelica suggested, scowling.

The adults paid not much attention to this, as Sherry Berry's music had finally gotten Dil to calm down, though he was still a bit upset about his flower.

"Flower," Dil whispered, before taking a nap.

Didi and Chaz both smiled once they saw that Dil had gone to bed, as they could now return to their conversation about Kira, and her birthday, as opposed to hearing Dil's loud screams.

It didn't fail to catch nor Susie or Angelica's attention that Sherry Berry's music had sent Dil to sleep, either.

"See?" Susie said, crossing her arms, full of glee now that she had pretty much proven Angelica wrong. "Sherry Berry's music is so good that she put a baby to sleep. She should be awarded for that."

"I think I'll download her album on my phone in case Chuckie and Kimi ever get fussy," Chaz said with a smile. "I'm sure that it'd even work on toddlers."

There lay Dil, sleeping peacefully as the two adults smiled at him. It seemed that Didi was apparently about to say something else, though the doorbell rang again.

"I can get it, Chaz," Didi said, feeling more courageous now that she – or rather, Sherry Berry's music – had gotten her youngest son to sleep. "I think you should go back outside and check on the kids again. Lord knows what they're up to!"

She suddenly became hysterical again, realizing that this whole time, every child that she was watching excluding Dil, Angelica, and Susie, were outside, alone, without supervision. Disregarding anything that she had said earlier, she opened the 'slide' and walked outside, only to luckily see that the babies were safe and picking flowers.

"Phew, you kids are safe. I'm sorry that both Chaz and I were out for so long. We were managing Dil. But, there's good news! Angelica and Susie are here to play!"

Their eyes went wide at the mention of Angelica's name, though Didi didn't seem to notice, instead continuing to smile at them.

"Anyway, it looks like someone else is also here, but I think that with how hysterical I was, Chaz has already gone and answered it. I think you kids should come inside soon, it's getting colder out here, which is a big strange, considering that it's summer."

Once she had walked back inside, the babies began talking again.

"Gee, that was weird," Zack remarked.

"Yeah, all my mommy did was walk outside and tell us that Susie and Angelica are here," Tommy said.

"Guys, you're all completely missing the point!" Chuckie practically yelled. "Angelica's here, which means that things are all about to get bad! Really, really, bad!"

"C'mon, Chuckie, what could be that bad?" Lil asked, giggling.

"Well, Lil, she might ruin our plans for my new mommy's birthday!" Chuckie exclaimed. "She's done stuff like that in the past, so why wouldn't she do it again?"

"Well, I can't really say that she's changed much, Chuckie, but, at least give her a chance," Tommy told him with an optimistic smile. "After all, not sure if you guys noticed, but she's at least gotten a little better since you got a new mommy, Chuckie."

Kimi, glad that someone did, for once, agree with her, smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, guys, Tommy's right, Angelica's gotten real nice since me and my mommy met you guys," Kimi said happily.

"Um, Kimi, I don't mean to correct you, but, as you said yourself, you don't really know what Angelica acted like before you met them," Zack reminded her. "I don't, either, but, I've witnessed Angelica's mean behavior enough times to understand why some of you guys don't really like her."

"Well, yeah, I guess that's true," Kimi said. "But, I still have hope in Angelica, and don't truthfully think she's all that bad."

Phil rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say, Kimi," Phil said.

Chuckie, however, felt that they were all completely missing his point.

"No, guys, we need to do something before Angelica comes out here!" Chuckie said, and while he wasn't shouting, he was at least somewhat frightened.

"Uh, Chuckie, are you forgetting?" Zack asked. "Susie is coming over, too, and she's pretty nice, compared to Angelica, so I'm guessing that no matter what Angelica tries to do, Susie will just stop her."

"Oh, yeah, and that, too," Tommy said, smiling. "See, Chuckie? You don't have anything to worry 'bout. As long as Susie's here, she'll make sure that Angelica does nothing really mean."

Chuckie just looked down, groaning.

"Whatever you say, Tommy, Zack, but if this all goes wrong, I'm gonna be really angry, and you guys wouldn't like it when I'm really, really, mad, would you?" Chuckie asked.

"Well, I've seen you mad before, Chuckie, but never mad enough, so, I don't know, but I don't think I would," Zack told him.

"Yeah, Chuckie, you're mostly calm most of the time, so I've never really seen you lose your temper, and I'm not really sure if I want to see that happen," Kimi told him, truthfully a bit frightened at the idea of it.

Not even Tommy, who had been Chuckie's best friend for nearly two years, had ever seen the older boy truthfully lose his temper. Sure, like any normal toddler, Chuckie had been angry before, though Tommy could count those times on both of his hands – if he could count, that was.

"No, I wouldn't," Tommy told him, shaking his head. Even the times when Chuckie was only angry, as opposed to furious, were scary.

"I would!" Phil and Lil both shouted at the same time.

"Yeah, let's see how riled up you can get!" Lil said.

"Uh huh, maybe he could blow a fuse like they do in daddy's newspapers," Phil said, giggling.

The others 'rats were silent after hearing this, though truthfully, they didn't know why they were surprised. This was Phil and Lil, of course they would've said that. They would've said something about this, until they heard the door open.

"Looks like someone else is here to play," Kimi said with a smile.

Meanwhile, inside of the house, Angelica and Susie were thinking the same that Kimi was. However, Angelica managed to ignore these thoughts as she bombarded Didi with questions.

"Aunt Didi?" Angelica asked.

"Yes, Angelica?" Didi asked, calmer now that Dil was sleeping.

"Do you happen to have any cookies here?"

"Well, yes, but" –

"That's great, aunt Didi! Where are they?"

Susie, completely seeing where this was going, decided that now was the time to interrupt Angelica before she made Didi any more stressed than she already was.

"Mrs. Pickles, you can bake cookies anytime you want. If you don't want to now, then don't, even though we'd all like it if you did."

"Once again, Susie, thank you, and, it's sweet of you to say that, but as a mother, sometimes I have to put you children before myself. At request of Angelica, I suppose that I can bake cookies, though not as many as I would've if you hadn't asked, Angelica."

At this, the blonde groaned, upset because she could've gotten more cookies if she hadn't asked just oh so politely.

"You're welcome, Mrs. Pickles, and I understand," Susie told her, smiling.

"Oh, kids, it seems that there's someone at the door, and I think Chaz just answered it," Didi told them. "Would you like to come with me and greet whoever this is?"

"Of course, Mrs. Pickles," Susie said immediately.

They both looked to Angelica, who just sighed, put on a fake smile, and nodded.

"Well, alrightie, then, let's go on!" Didi exclaimed.

Once they both arrived near the door, they were in surprise at who this was – or, rather, Didi was in surprise. There stood fourteen-year old king Peter Albany, his servants closely near him.

"My goodness, it's the king, and I'm not even dressed up," Didi whispered to herself.

At this, Peter chuckled.

"Didi, you've seen and met me numerous times before, I don't see why you'd be so surprised now," Peter said, hiding his chuckles with his hand. "I'll only be here for a short while. I really do need to get back to my castle, though your husband, Stu, requested that I hand you guys some very important documents a few nights ago over the phone. I would've done it sooner, though a lot of things are going on at my kingdom, which is also why, and I don't mean to be rude, I simply cannot stay long."

"It's alright, Peter, we understand," Chaz told him. "Come on in."

Peter, along with his servants, walked inside of their house. It was then that he looked down and noticed Angelica and Susie. Since he was, obliviously, rather tall compared to them, he had missed them there.

"Why, hello, Susie, Angelica, sorry that I missed you there," Peter told the two girls. "Didi, are the babies outside?"

"Oh, goodness, yes, Chaz, could you go outside and get them?" Didi asked.

Chaz nodded, waving goodbye to the king before walking outside to deal with the babies.

"So, Mr. Peter" –

"I don't mean to interrupt, though I prefer to go by the name of either Peter or Mr. Albany," Peter explained.

Angelica rolled her eyes and scoffed.

'Who does he think he is?' she thought. 'All he is is a king. Shows that they let anyone into our royalty systems these days.'

"Whatever," Angelica mumbled.

"What was that, Angelica?" Didi asked.

"Nothing, aunt Didi," Angelica said, giving another forced grin. "So, Peter, since you're a king and all, why are you hanging around here? And what do you think of my new Cynthia playset?"

At this, feeling that she had time to boast, Angelica, since the hand in which she had been holding the Cynthia playset for the full time was sweaty, switched hands, before raising her boxed Cynthia playset higher to show Peter.

"Well, not only have I grown to not only like this home and the residents of it, though as I said once I came here, your uncle requested that I bring a few documents here," Peter explained. "As for your playset, I do think that it's wonderful, especially being so new, though should you really boast about this to me?"

Upset because of his response, she gave a 'hmph' noise, to which Susie decided that it was her turn to talk.

"Mr. Albany, I would never boast," Susie said matter-of-factly. "Boasting is wrong."

"Nice to hear, Susie, it's always best not to boast, it makes you come off as a rude person," Peter said. "However, surely you didn't fail to notice that you just did was wrong, too. You saw that I had corrected Angelica for boasting, and therefore, you yourself boasted about how you would never… well, boast yourself. It's difficult to explain."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry, Peter," Susie said.

Eventually, they reached the living room, to which Peter placed the documents down on the table, before locking them.

"Why do you need to lock the documents?" Angelica asked.

"So that no one else can get into these documents," Peter explained. "While that would be illegal, I can't watch everything at every moment of the day. It's how some of these criminals always get away."

'I know exactly what I'm gonna do,' Angelica thought with a grin.

"Any who, now that these documents that your husband requested are here, Didi, I must be going."

The teenager was about to leave, until he realized that he needed to use the restroom.

"Or, perhaps I shall stay a bit longer."

With that, he ran to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door.

Angelica, feeling that it was now the perfect time to torture the babies, grinned.

"Aunt Didi?" she asked.

"Yes, Angelica?" Didi asked, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Can me and Susie go outside and play with those darling babies?" Angelica asked sarcastically.

"Why, Angelica, I was just waiting for one of you to ask," she told her, smiling. "Of course you can. There's a good chance that they want to play with you girls, too."

"They had better," Angelica mumbled grumpily.

"What was that, Angelica?" Didi asked.

"Nothing, aunt Didi," Angelica said. "C'mon, Susie, why don't we go outside and make ourselves known to those beautiful, darling, babies?"

"Sure," Susie said, still through gritted teeth.

Didi waved her hand as the two girls walked outside.

Angelica slid open the slide/door, and grinned. The babies immediately turned their heads once they heard the noise, and, with the exception of Kimi, were a bit frightened, until they saw Susie, standing there, smiling at them. She then closed the slide, and turned back around, hoping for a pleasant greeting from the babies.

"Oh, no, it's Angelica!" Phil finally yelled out, rather rudely.

"Yeah, but at least Susie's here to save the day," Lil said rather optimistically.

"Uh huh, it's pretty good to actually have some good company over here," Zack said, glaring at Phil and Lil as he spoke these words. "We haven't had that in a while."

However, Kimi misinterpreted these words, and stared at Zack in hurt. He didn't notice, instead looking to see what would happen next. It was at this moment, when Kimi decided that whatever Zack agreed with, she would disagree with, just to spite him.

'He's gotta understand what he did,' she thought rather angrily.

Angelica, though angry by this 'greeting,' pretended that she didn't care, scoffed, and crossed her arms.

"That's my name, don't wear it out," Angelica said. "And Carmichael's not here to save the day. Carmichael is a goody-goody who's only goal in her life is to be perfect, but obliviously, she's failing in that course, too."

Susie rolled her eyes at this description of her personality.

"Thanks for the introduction, Angelica," she said in disgust.

"Always welcome, Carmichael," Angelica told her sarcastically, before she noticed that Chuckie was there, attempting to hide behind Tommy and Kimi.

Seeing this, she gave a small, though mean, chuckle.

"Nice hiding spot, Finster. Who gave you the idea for that one? Spike?"

Laughing at her own joke, she noticed that Spike was indeed outside, and the mutt, hearing his name, growled at her.

"Uh, no, Angelica, Spike didn't give me the idea, he can't even talk," Chuckie reminded her.

Angelica had to refrain from laughing once Chuckie said this. The poor boy didn't truly understand sarcasm as well as the two four-year olds did, it seemed.

"Finster, I didn't mean it literally, I was being sarcastic," Angelica told him.

"What does that mean?" Tommy asked.

"Sarcasm is a tool that I have mastered, as a growed up, that is," Angelica said matter-of-factly.

"Sarcasm is the _only_ tool that you've mastered," Susie said, chuckling.

"Shut up, Carmichael!" Angelica shouted. "Anyway, babies, sarcasm means that you say something that's impossible, but you say it in a weird tone, and that's how you know that it's sarcasm."

"Oh, well you sure do that a lot," Phil said.

"You're darn right I do," Angelica responded.

"Anyways, what are you guys up to?" Susie asked. "Surely, you were doing something before me and Angelica came along."

The babies looked at Chuckie curiously, wondering if he would agree with them telling Angelica and Susie about what they were doing, though the boy in question shook his head.

"Uh, well, Susie, maybe it'd be better if you guys just didn't know for now," Tommy told them.

At this, Susie was rather surprised. She would understand if the babies didn't want to tell Angelica something, since she was mean to them a lot, though usually, they would tell her, since she liked to think of herself as trustworthy.

Angelica herself wasn't so happy about this announcement, either, and wanted her opinion to be known.

"Whaddya mean, it'd be better if I didn't know?" Angelica shouted. "I'm Angelica Charlotte Pickles, four-years old, super pretty and smart, and am the richest out of all of ya, so what gives?"

"Well, Angelica, you always scare us," Zack said, truthfully.

"Yeah, and you're always really mean to us," Lil added in.

"She doesn't scare me," Kimi said, still angry and hurt from what Zack had said earlier.

It wasn't that what she had said wasn't true. Angelica had never, and if so, rarely, scared her, and since she first came to America, Kimi had seen the good side of Angelica a few times, and was determined to prove that she was a nice person to the others. However, they usually refused to believe this, instead deciding that Angelica was, while not evil, a mean person.

Angelica gave Kimi a smile, one of the only true smiles that the babies had seen her give in a long time.

"Glad to see that someone's on my side, _other_ Finster," Angelica shouted, glaring at Chuckie.

The freckled boy cowered in fear, and then, as it usually happened, Tommy decided to stand up for him.

"Angelica, you leave Chuckie alone!" Tommy shouted at his cousin. "He's not on your side right now cuz we're doing something extra important."

Hearing this, Angelica raised an eyebrow, as opposed to showing hurt for what Tommy had said to her.

"Oh, and what is this extra important thing, that's so 'portant that you can't tell your bestest cousin?" Angelica asked.

"None of your beeswax, Angelica, that's what," Tommy told her, trying to make sure that he won this argument.

"Well, gee, Pickles, I'm a growed up, and my mommy always says that you have to tell growed ups what's going on!" Angelica shouted. "So tell me and Carmichael what's going on!"

"Well, Angelica, maybe we don't want to!"

This loud voice came from one of the 'rats who rarely yelled, or showed anger; Chuckie. This surprised the babies, along with catching Angelica off guard, while Chuckie just sat there, stubbornly crossing his arms.

"What? I did say that you didn't wanna see me when I'm really mad. That's always how it turns out."

After getting over her surprise, Angelica shook her head, and, while a bit discouraged to continue her attempts to pressure the babies into telling her, did continue, though toning it down.

"Geez, Finster, don't throw a tantrum like all you dumb babies do," Angelica said in a lower voice, continuing to cross her arms.

Despite still being a bit hurt since the babies wouldn't tell her, Susie stood up for the babies.

"Angelica, you were just about to throw a tantrum yourself, and you like to think that you're all growed up," Susie reminded her. "So, are you calling yourself a dumb baby, too?"

Realizing this, the babies began laughing at her, which aggravated the four-year old, as she dropped her Cynthia playset box angrily. Kimi, still on Angelica's side, refused to laugh at her, even if she did personally find it a bit funny.

"Shut up, it's not funny!" Angelica shouted, stomping her foot.

"What's not funny?"

They all turned around, to see Chaz standing there, confusion and concern apparent on his face.

"W-well, Mr. Finster, I was just telling these precious babies about how unfunny potty humor is," Angelica lied. "Right, Susie?"

In most cases, Susie would've openly disagreed, though studying Chaz's features, she could tell that this was one of the last things that he needed to hear right now, with a lot going on.

"Right," Susie said, once again through gritted teeth.

"Oh, well, please, no more yelling, kids," Chaz told them.

"Of course not, Mr. Finster," the girls both said at the same time.

With that, Chaz closed the door to the backyard, walking back inside to discuss Kira's birthday with Didi.

"Well, gee, that was close!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Uh huh, Angelica would've gotten into lots of troubles if she didn't come up with that lie," Lil acknowledged.

"Which was a really bad lie, too," Zack said, glaring at Angelica. "Angelica, why can't you ever tell anyone the truth?"

"I agree!" Susie said. "Angelica, you should've just told Mr. Finster the truth when he came out here. It would've saved us a lot of trouble."

Angelica, as she usually did, scoffed.

"Yeah, Carmichael, it would've saved _you_ a lot of trouble. But what type of trouble would that have saved me?"

None of them answered this, knowing that she had a point. Nothing much changed until Chuckie apparently whispered something in his best friend, Tommy's, ear, since he was the closest to him. Whatever this was, seemed to shock the two-year old.

"Really?" Tommy asked, to which Chuckie nodded. "And you want me to announce this?"

Once again, he nodded.

"Won't Angelica be really mad?"

"Mad about what, squirt?" Angelica asked.

"No one here is a squirt, Angelica," Susie insisted.

"Well, I guess that Chuckie decided that he wants me to tell you, Angelica," Tommy said.

"Tell me what, shrimp?" Angelica asked, groaning. "Don't make me wait, just tell me, or else I'm gonna get real angry, and you're not gonna like it when I'm angry."

Tommy, getting more and more agitated with his cousin as she lashed insults at them all, finally said what Chuckie had asked, though in a much ruder tone than expected.

"Chuckie just wanted me to tell you that we're only telling Susie what we were doing!" Tommy finally said, nearly shouting.

It was now that Angelica's heart nearly broke into pieces, as her mouth hung wide open, along with Susie's. Seeing their surprised faces at his outburst, he realized that he had lost his temper, and felt ashamed.

"What?" Angelica asked, her voice cracking.

"We're only going to tell Susie," Zack said in a lighter, calmer, tone, than Tommy had used.

"We're really sorry, Angelica," Tommy told her. "Especially me. I'm real sorry that I used that tone on you. It wasn't meant to come out like that, I just got so angry cuz you kept insulting us, and…"

"There's no need to explain it, squirt," Angelica shouted.

It was then, that Chaz opened the backyard door again.

"That's it, Angelica, I'm sorry, but you need to go in timeout for shouting," Chaz told her.

"What?" Angelica yelled once again. "But the babies and Susie were mean first, Mr. Finster, honest!"

"I'm sorry, Angelica, really, I am, but even if they were, I only have proof that you were the one yelling," Chaz explained. "If I catch them doing something wrong, I'll rightly make sure that they're punished, too. Besides, this punishment is only for five minutes, which isn't long, and if you keep yelling, then your timeout will only become longer."

This, however, didn't stop her from yelling, especially since this time, it really wasn't fair.

"It's not fair!" Angelica cried as Chaz practically dragged her inside. "They started it!"

She was near crying at this point, since not only was she a toddler with inexperienced emotions, though also because the babies had been ruder to her than she had to them that day.

Once they were inside, Angelica decided that, since she certainly didn't want to pent up her anger, there was no way that this would happen to her, at which she began screaming again.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!"

"And you shouting at the babies isn't fair, either."

Didi, noticing that Angelica was now back inside the house and throwing a tantrum, as well, gulped. She had recently gotten Dil to take his nap, and surely, Angelica's tantrum would wake him up, causing the seven-month old to scream, as well. She could already see the situation playing out in her head, and it sure wasn't pretty.

"Angelica, do you think you could calm down?" Didi asked.

"And what's there to calm down for, Aunt Didi?" Angelica shouted.

"Well, Dil's trying to sleep" –

"Is he all that you care about, Aunt Didi? Is he?"

"Well, no" –

"Great, then don't practically tell me to shut up just because he's enjoying one of his baby naps! This isn't fair, and it's really mean!"

Didi began to notice Dil beginning to open his eyes, and, looking for a quick way to not have two children screaming at the same time, which would be a nightmare, she decided to say something that she knew would please Angelica.

"If you calm down, I'll bake cookies!"

At this, she ended her tantrum, which Didi felt was lucky, since it meant that Dil would possibly go back to sleep.

"R-really, aunt Didi?" Angelica asked, wiping any tears that she had cried away. "You'd do that for me?"

"Of course, I would, Angelica."

It was around this point that Peter walked out of the bathroom, eyebrow raised.

"That was rather the screaming fit, Didi," Peter told her.

"Oh, sir – I mean, Peter, I'm sorry, it was just a small tantrum," Didi said.

"Well, I still must be going now, since my business here is finished, though I am perfectly willing to say goodbye to you four, along with Susie and the babies, if you don't mind," Peter told them.

"Not at all, sir," Chaz said.

"Peter, please, Chaz," the king told him.

"Oh, of course, sir – oops!"

Peter chuckled.

"It's alright, this happens rather often."

Peter walked and slid open the door to Tommy's backyard, immediately being greeted by both Susie and the babies, even though they were still getting over what had just happened.

"Hi, Peter," they all said.

Since he could understand the babies, he nodded and smiled.

"I apologize for leaving so soon, since I've just come, though since I have to go back to my kingdom, I need to say goodbye to you guys," Peter told them, smiling sadly.

"Awe, Peter, why do you always gots to leave us?" Lil asked.

"Well, since I'm a king, I have a lot of work to do," Peter explained. "If I spent every day and hour here, speaking to you babies, not that I'd mind it, then I couldn't be considered a king at all, since I wouldn't be doing my actual job. Besides, don't worry, because I'll be back tomorrow."

He was about to leave, until Tommy stopped him.

"Hey, Peter, wait!" Tommy exclaimed.

Peter turned back around.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Well, I said something really mean to Angelica today, which is why she's in timeout, since she yelled back at me after I said the mean thing, and I feel really bad," Tommy explained.

Chuckie frowned.

"No, Tommy, don't feel bad, it was my fault for having you ask in the first place," Chuckie reminded him.

"Well, yeah, but I coulda said it nicer."

"Well, Tommy, I'm glad that you're owning up to your mistake, and admitting that it was a mistake," Peter told him. "That takes true courage, especially coming from a two-year old. I won't lie, I was rather surprised to hear that you had been rude to Angelica, since the majority of you do well at keeping your temper in check, though surely, she must've been annoying you an awful lot for that to happen, since you're not a mean-spirited person. What did she say before you made that mistake?"

"Well, I don't exactly 'member, but I do know that it was really mean," Tommy said.

"I remember her insulting all of us, and I can see why you got so angry, Tommy," Zack told the two-year old.

"Yeah, and she called Tommy a 'squirt,'" Phil told Peter.

"Isn't Angelica gonna be mad at us for tattletaling on her?" Chuckie asked, still afraid of the mean blonde even though he had recently stood up to her.

"Not as long as I'm here, she won't," Peter told them. "And, it does sound like she was being pretty mean even before you told her off, Tommy. I'm not choosing any sides at all, since what you both did was wrong, but, maybe you should apologize to her once she comes back outside. Trust me, I was four once, and anytime I felt hurt, apologies always made me smile."

"Well, thanks for the advice, Peter, and we sure will use it," Chuckie said.

"You're welcome, Chuckie, and, bye, guys," Peter told them, to which they all waved at him as he left.

"Whelp, looks like I'm gonna have to own up to my mistake, like Peter said," Tommy stated bravely.

They all agreed with this, telling Tommy that he was very brave to do so, with the exception of Susie, who wondered what it was that was so important that not only did they ban Angelica from finding out, though was also apparently important enough to anger Chuckie.

"I agree with all you guys, but, what was so important that you couldn't tell Angelica?" Susie asked, worried for Angelica, and curious about this.

RUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATS

Well then, I finally completed chapter two, with nearly eight-thousand words! Hooray me!

I am so glad that I managed to finish this before 12 am. I have to restart my computer, but hopefully, this chapter will be up before you can say, 'Hallo!'

By the way, for any 'Inside Out' fans, did you see the short clip for 'Riley's First Date?' It's just hilarious, especially with Riley's mom trying to be cool! Oh, and we also found out the name of the boy that we saw near the end of 'Inside Out,' in which he bumps into Riley and seems to be surprised to see her; want spoilers? Of course you want spoilers! His name is Jordan, if you haven't seen the clip yet. Seriously though, watch it, it's hilarious.

And, wowee zowie Batman, thanks so much for giving me six reviews on the first chapter! I wish so much that I could give you all a cookie or a piece of this Danish Butter cake that my dad bought for us earlier today… or a stick of my chewing gum! I dunno, either way, love all you guys, keep up the good work, and, please, if you haven't already, go see 'Inside Out!'

It'll blow your mind! 

(I'll answer guest reviews in the next chapter.)


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: For anyone who read chapter two, I hope you liked it, because things will only get better in this chapter. I understand that chapter two was more about Angelica than it was Kira's birthday, but things will now get back on track. This chapter will, hopefully, be shorter than the last one was – that one could actually be rounded to ten-thousand words. At the time that I'm writing this, it's twelve in the morning on August seventeenth and I will most likely not finish this until later today, or, heck, maybe even tomorrow. Once this chapter is uploaded, I'll begin writing 'King' a story focused on TheDisneyFan356's (formerly known as TCKing12, though that account has since been deactivated,) original character, Peter Albany. Once I have finished that one-shot, I'll be writing 'Alternate Ending to a Step at a Time,' a Rugrats/Inside out crossover, and then, in month-few months, another Rugrats/Inside Out crossover. As promised, I will reply to a user named El Nugget's guest review right… now!

El Nugget:

Loved this first chapter and can't wait to see what the babies will get Kira for her birthday. And if memory serves me correctly Stu also had his birthday celebrated too in the America's Wackiest Home Videos episode even though it may have been a surprise party for him.

My Reply:

Thank you so much for this review. Oh, yes, I haven't seen that episode in a while, so I've forgotten about that. Thank you for the reminder. I hope you like chapter two, this chapter, and any future chapters as well.

Oh, and, since I forgot the disclaimer in chapter two, I will add it in during this chapter.

Disclaimer: I can sadly say that I am not the creator of Rugrats, or, rather, can proudly say this, since one cannot imagine how terrible the series would be if _I_ were in charge of it. This series belongs to Klasky Csupo. If this were about twelve years ago, I wouldn't said that the series belonged to Nickelodeon, but really, tell me that Nickelodeon is the same as it always was. Tell me that Nickelodeon from 1997 would've written shows that follow no plot (Spongebob,) have stupid characters (every recent Nickelodeon show,) are about ducks delivering bread (don't even get me started on Breadwinners, please don't,) or would've made an episode called 'Fart Baby.' If you can say that they are still the same, then I'm sorry, but I think you're in complete denial. That is why Nickelodeon does not, at least in my mind, own Rugrats.

Anyway, ranting time is over for now, so let's move onto the actual chapter!

 **Kira's Birthday**

 **Chapter three**

It had since been the five minutes that Chaz had told Angelica she had to stay in timeout for. Since he didn't like telling lies, especially not to children, he let her out of timeout.

"But, remember, Angelica, don't yell again, and if you feel like the babies or Susie are bothering you, just come back inside, okay?" Chaz told her, not wanting trouble again.

While Angelica was still ticked off about being punished, especially when it wasn't exactly her fault, at least she was getting cookies. That, and at four, she was smart enough to know that if she talked back, she'd only be causing trouble for herself.

"Alright, Mr. Finster, and I'm still really sorry that I screamed and stuff," Angelica said as sweetly as she could master.

Chaz, consciously beginning to see through Angelica's fake sweet exterior, sighed before smiling.

"Thank you for the apology, Angelica, and I just hope that it doesn't happen again," Chaz told her.

Angelica gave another pretend smile.

"Don't worry, Mr. Finster, as I said before, I can 'sure you that it won't happen ever again, because I'll be the nicest that a growed up can be from now on," Angelica told him, attempting to sound convincing.

While he truthfully didn't believe this, Chaz, with his optimism, decided to give Angelica another chance, though he thought it through first.

"Well, alright, Angelica, Didi will come for you when your cookies are ready," Chaz explained, with a blank expression on his face. "For now, though, I'll let you back outside with Susie and the babies."

While she did scoff at the idea of having to go back outside with _them_ , she immediately masked the sound with a fake helicopter sound, giggling after she made it.

'Susie and those dumb babies don't know what they have coming for them after what they did to me,' she thought.

Meanwhile, outside, after Tommy had at least somewhat gotten over the guilt that he felt for losing his temper with Angelica, the babies were busy explaining to Susie what they had originally claimed they wouldn't tell her about.

"So, guys, what's the deal?" Susie asked, quirking an eyebrow out of her curiosity.

Obliviously, since they had, for the first time, nearly left Susie out of their ordeal, she had a right to be surprised, hurt, and curious.

The babies all exchanged a glance with one another, before Chuckie looked up at her, with a serious look on his face that she didn't see very often.

"Susie, what we're about to tell you is real 'portant," Chuckie said seriously. "You can't tell anyone what we're about to tell you, not Angelica or the growed ups, not that I don't trust the growed ups, since they're growed ups and they're here to keep us safe and all, but because this is a secret, and it needs to stay a secret, okay?"

Susie took a few seconds to process everything that Chuckie had just told her, and kept in mind of how serious he had looked. She hadn't seen Chuckie act like this in a long time, and it surprised her, though it also told her that she really did need to keep this a secret. Otherwise, she wasn't sure of how hard it would break him, and how untrustworthy she would be seen as from then.

"Yeah, and we just wanted to say that we're really sorry for not telling you and Angelica what we were gonna do earlier," Tommy said, clearly expressing regret.

Zack nodded at this, looking back at Susie with pleading eyes.

"I 'gree with Tommy, we really are sorry for that, and it was our mistake when that happened," Zack added in.

Once Kimi saw Zack's pleading eyes, she scowled, and was beginning to think that perhaps Zack had a crush on Susie, which would annoy her to no end. This idea didn't help much with her earlier anger at both Zack and Susie

"Uh huh, and we won't ever do it again, Susie," Lil told her.

These apologies from her friends got Susie out of her thoughts, and she smiled at them all. While she did still feel betrayed for them having originally discarded her, she had been taught by her family to forgive and forget, which was obliviously needed here.

"It's alright, you guys, just don't do it again, it made me feel like you weren't even my friends," Susie explained sadly.

Chuckie, now feeling horrible for having discarded Susie, gave her a small smile.

"I'm sorry, too, cuz I was the one who came up with that idea, and so far, it's been my worstest idea ever," Chuckie exclaimed. "Like Lil said, we'll never leave you out of anything ever again."

Susie grinned, sitting back down in the grass with them.

"So, like I said, what's happening anyway?" Susie asked.

"Well, Susie, you probably didn't know this, but tomorrow is me and Kimi's mommy's birthday," Chuckie explained.

The four-year old girl's eyes lightened once she heard this. Ever since she was little, Susie had always loved helping with birthday parties and all, which was another reason why she had been upset when she missed Tommy's second birthday, though they had hung out a week after that, which made up for it. Now that she had a chance to help them with Kira's birthday, she could barely hold her excitement in.

"Wow, it's her birthday," Susie said, trying to keep from screaming it out happily. "I am so happy for you guys, Chuckie, Kimi!"

Despite still being very upset with Susie since she had thought that Zack was flirting with her, Kimi managed to crack a fake smile.

"Thanks, Susie," Kimi said, trying to hide the melancholy tone in her voice.

On most days, the others would've noticed this, though they were too hyped up to care all that much, along with Susie. Zack himself noticed this, and quirked an eyebrow, though decided to avoid saying anything unless it happened again.

"You're welcome, Kimi!" Susie exclaimed, grinning widely.

"Well, you shouldn't be," Chuckie said grumpily, his tone returning to the one he had used originally.

Susie's face did, of course, return to one that expressed concern for Chuckie.

"What do you mean, Chuckie?" she asked, confused.

She had assumed that Chuckie would be happy about Kira's birthday coming up, since he was a nice boy and all. When the grumpy and frightened three-year old didn't answer, Zack explained it.

"Chuckie's afraid that whatever he gets his mom, she won't like it," Zack explained.

After finding this out, Susie only felt more concern for the freckled boy who had his head in the knees sitting across from her. She should've known that he would feel this way, since she had known him for around a year, and he usually reacted to situations like this.

"Awe, Chuckie, your mommy will like whatever you get her, because she loves you," Susie reminded him.

"Yeah, and even if she doesn't, that's okay, too," Phil said.

At this, Tommy and Zack shushed him, with Lil glaring at her twin brother, to which he smiled innocently and nervously.

"Uh… sorry?"

Susie rolled her eyes, before looking back at Chuckie with a smile.

"Chuckie, you just have to think of what your mommy would want," Susie explained. "But, why are you guys out here in a garden anyway?"

"Well Susie, we thought that maybe Chuckie could try picking some flowers," Tommy explained to the older girl. "And we were doing that until Dil pooped in his diapey, and since then, a lot of stuff was happening, and then, by the time that you guys came here, Dilly was screaming cuz he dropped his flower, I think."

"Speaking of that flower, I'll hold it for him," Phil said, crawling over to the flower, picking it up, and stuffing it in his pocket, before sighing and patting his pocket. "Ah, there we go. It'll be good as new by the time Dil comes out here again. He stopped screaming, right?"

"Yeah, seems like it," Zack said. "I haven't heard anything in a while." 

"Well, okay," Phil said, chuckling.

"Hey, you're not doing anything to Dilly's flower, right?" Tommy asked worriedly. "If you are, he sure wouldn't like that."

"Don't worry, Tommy, Dil is gonna get back his flower and everything will be fine," Phil assured him. "I won't let it out of my sight."

Tommy nodded as Susie looked to them to make sure that they were finished with their discussion.

"I'll just let you guys know that Dil is taking a nap," Susie explained. "Tommy, your mommy managed to calm him down, but he was crying pretty loud before then. Anyway, guys, let's get back to picking flowers and see which ones Chuckie likes the most."

Since she was still attempting to get over her jealousy, Kimi couldn't help but groan once she heard this.

"Well, gee, Susie, Chuckie's not the only person in the world," Kimi mumbled angrily.

The others looked at Kimi with concern, excluding Phil and Lil, who's facial expression would match confusion better. None of them understood why she seemed less happier today. Considering that none of them had actually been observing her, instead focusing on Chuckie, the majority of them had only just noticed.

"What was that, Kimi?" Susie asked.

"Yeah, Kimi, you don't seem as happy as you usually are today," Chuckie reminded her, giving her a look of concern.

"Uh huh, you haven't said anything in forever," Lil remarked.

"Are you broked, Kimi?" Phil asked.

Zack rolled his eyes at this.

"Phil, you don't just ask someone that, because I'm sure she's not," Zack said, before giving Kimi his own look of concern. "Kimi, the others are right, though. Is something wrong?"

In response, the toddler did something that she had been doing an awful lot that day; she scoffed, and then grunted.

"No, Zack, I'm perfectly fine," she lied, though inside, she knew she was raging.

The boy in question was beginning to get extremely worried about her. He had a feeling that she was upset, since she wasn't acting like her happy, joyous self. While he wanted to ask her what was wrong, not only did he have a feeling that she would scream louder than Angelica if he did, though he assumed that she would get over it.

"Well, okay, Kimi," Zack said, sitting back down, though glancing at her every now and then.

Once again, Susie looked at both Kimi and Zack, before speaking again.

"Okay, guys, let's pick some flowers, and show them to Chuckie," she stated.

The babies did as suggested, and began picking flowers for Chuckie to look at and smell, determining whether he thought the flower was right for Kira's birthday.

Phil was the first one to suggest a flower to Chuckie; however, as Chuckie had expected from him, this flower had the worst of smells. Clearly, Chuckie wanted to yell at Phil for even suggesting such a smelly flower, but after seeing the determined look on Phil's face, he wasn't too sure if he wanted to do that anymore, since he didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"It's a little smelly, but I'm sure you and Kimi's mommy will love it," Phil said, smiling as he held it.

Smelling this and noticing the same thing that Chuckie had, Lil wrinkled her nose and glared at her twin brother. While in the past, she might have agreed with this, even she understood that Chuckie's mother would most likely dislike this type of flower.

"Gross, Phillip, Chuckie and Kimi's mommy will never want that type of flower," Lil insisted, finally putting her hand over her nose, while scowling at Phil.

"She will too, Lillian!" Phil said determinedly, putting his nose in the air as he crossed his arms.

"Nuh uh, Phillip, cuz that flower's stinky!" Lil reminded her brother.

"So what?" Phil asked. "Our mommy likes stinky! Well, except for when we don't take baths, but even then, she can still deal with the smell!"

Kimi, for once openly getting fed up with Phil and Lil's argument, finally told them how she felt, all while scowling. Therefore, the voice that Phil didn't expect came from Kimi.

"Well, Phil, I agree with Lil, I don't think me and Chuckie's mommy would like that flower at all," Kimi stated, moaning with anger.

Once again, the others were surprised to hear this tone coming from her, since they had never seen her use it before. Considering that Kimi was usually such a happy, pleasant, girl, most of them had assumed that she wasn't capable of this behavior.

"Kimi, like Zack said earlier, are you okay?" Tommy asked worriedly. "You usually wouldn't say any of this stuff, or say something that mean to Phil."

Phil groaned, still surprised, though also a bit angry with the three-pigtailed girl. While he did know her enough to say that she didn't usually act this way, he was also a bit upset to find that she was placing her anger on him.

"Yeah, you're being just as mean as Angelica is now," Phil mumbled grumpily.

Once again, Zack looked at Kimi with concern, to which she, trying to find a way out of answering them, noticed. She scowled at him, which took Zack by surprise, even opening his mouth briefly to express this, before closing it, because it was usually seen as rude.

"What are you looking at?" Kimi asked in the rudest tone that her voice could muster.

Zack managed to get out of his trance, and attempted to keep himself from blushing once he realized that not only had he been staring, but she had also noticed.

"Oh, sorry," Zack mumbled, looking down in embarrassment, before looking back up, once again with concern. "Really, though, Kimi, I'm not going to ask this time, because I know that you're not okay. What happened? Was it something that one of us did?"

The others had the same look of concern, and Kimi noticed this, feeling happy that her friends were noticing her, and cared, and when she was about to express joy at this, and perhaps admit to them what had happened, a memory of Zack referring to Susie as the best company he'd had in a while came back. Because of this memory, her anger returned.

"Well, Zack," she said, putting emphasis on his name, "you're wrong there, because I'm perfectly fine and happy."

Obliviously, she wasn't fooling anyone, and no one there failed to notice the sarcasm in her voice, to which Tommy pointed this out.

"Hey, Kimi, your voice has the same thing that Angelica was talking about earlier," Tommy remarked. "What was it called?"

"Sarcasm, Tommy, and you're right there, too, because her voice is full of sarcasm," Zack noted. "Kimi, that's only more evidence that something's wrong. There's obliviously something that you're not telling us, and we don't like it. What's the matter? Please, tell us, we're your friends."

It was at this moment, it seemed, that Kimi's Anger came in, with everything catching up to her, and memories of Zack calling Susie good company, and images in her mind of them marrying. Despite the fact that she should probably be happy because Zack was finally paying attention to her, it seemed that her Joy was taking a day off, which resulted in her finally snapping.

"What do you mean, you're my friends?" Kimi yelled. "You're right there Zack, about everything except for you being my friend! Well, Mr. Smarty Pants, newsflash! You've been annoying me a lot today, so even if you didn't mean too, I don't wanna be friends anymore!" 

She didn't realize what she was saying, or, rather, yelling, until she finished her sentence. Once she was done ranting, she sat back down, and began to feel disappointed in herself as her friends stared at her with both the same disappointment she felt for herself. As for Zack, he didn't know how, but he began to feel like he had been punched in the stomach.

It appeared that his emotions felt the same way, since inside of his head, they all felt similar. It was quiet inside of Zack's Headquarters, until his Sadness began crying loudly. No one tried to assure his Sadness that things were alright, because none of them felt alright, either, and they'd only be hypocrites if they said that they didn't feel similar.

"Kimi doesn't want to be friends with us anymore!" Zack's Sadness cried, falling onto the floor, sobbing while he lay in a puddle of his own tears.

"What'd we do?" Zack's Fear asked, trembling, and appearing as if she might cry as well. "Far as I know, we treated her pretty good."

"Pretty good?" Zack's Anger asked, fuming. "We treated her better than anyone else! See, Joy, this is what happens when you're at the controls all the time!"

While it was no lie that Zack's Anger was hurting, too, she obliviously took it differently, using her anger as a defense mechanism as opposed to openly showing the fear and sadness that she felt.

"Anger's right, Joy, how are you gonna fix it this time, huh?" Zack's Disgust asked, wrinkling his nose at the emotion that stood next to him, gaping with shock. "Are you gonna laugh, Joy?"

"Uh… well, uh…" Zack's Joy said, searching for something to be happy about. "Mr. Smarty Pants was a compliment, right?"

"No, Joy, no," Zack's Disgust stated, trying to roll his eyes, though at this point, not even he felt like doing that anymore.

Obliviously, he couldn't find anything reasonable to be happy about, and even he knew that they couldn't be happy about this. Since he was usually in charge, resulting in them treating Kimi rather nicely, he wasn't sure how to deal with any of this, and was hurting the worst of them all. He always wanted Zack to be happy, so whenever even he knew that the situation didn't call for it, he was dumbfounded.

"Ugh, see, Joy, you can't even find something to be happy about, can you?" Zack's Disgust teased, trying to get away from the pain of Kimi yelling at them.

"I'm going to the controls!" Zack's Anger yelled. "Otherwise we'll have that dumb look on our face forever!"

Fuming with a lot more anger than usual, Zack's Anger took the controls, therefore angering Zack, to which he yelled back at Kimi.

"Yeah, well, Kimi, maybe you're right!" Zack shouted, furrowing his eyebrows as the other babies stared with shock. "Maybe we shouldn't be friends anymore! After all, I'm getting pretty sick of your nasty attitude! Heck, you're acting meaner than Angelica, like Phil said! I don't think I wanna be friends with someone who yells at me for asking if she's okay, or who is mad at me for being smart! Well, newsflash to _you_ , Kimi: I like being smart! At least it's better than being some, some… ugh, happy freak!"

Similarly to what had happened with Kimi, Zack hadn't even realized much of what he was doing until the other babies continued to stare at him in shock. They could've sworn that Zack had never been so upset before. After hearing this, Kimi did calm down, though that didn't mean that she was happy, either.

"Oh, well, yeah, let's not be friends anymore," Kimi said, sadness apparent in her voice as she rubbed her arm, blinking repeatedly.

Zack sighed, calming down once he saw that she had, too. While he didn't mean to make her more upset than she already was, he was a normal baby, and would yell sometimes. That, and she had hit a spot that he'd never assumed

They were all quiet until Chuckie spoke up.

"Well, uh, that got a little crazy," he admitted. "But we really need to move on."

Susie spoke up along with him.

"Yeah, I don't think we should pick flowers anymore, guys," Susie said quietly. "Why don't we all go back inside? Tommy, I think your mommy said she's baking cookies, anyway."

Tommy, trying to lighten the mood after the unexpected argument between Zack and Kimi, smiled.

"My mommy's cookies are always really good, so I agree with you on that, Susie," Tommy said.

The others, understanding that Tommy wanted to revert things back to the way they had been before, nodded with smiles, excluding Zack and Kimi, who were still a bit too upset to do so.

"Yeah, let's go back inside," Lil said. "I bet the cookies are ready now. Don't ya think, Phil?"

Phil, who had been staring off into space, finally looked up when Lil bumped him in the shoulder.

"Huh?" Phil asked. "Oh, yeah. And they're really yummy, like Tommy said."

They all nodded.

"Let's just try not to wake Dil up," Chuckie noted with an exasperated tone. "No 'fense, Tommy, but he cries too loud for my ears."

The others nodded in agreement, to which Tommy quietly smiled at his best friend.

"Don't worry 'bout it, Chuckie, Dilly cries a little too loud for my ears sometimes, too," Tommy acknowledged. "But for now, let's get back inside there."

"Or we could cry for your mommy again, Tommy," Phil reminded them, chuckling. "Y'know, to prove that I can cry louder than Lillian."

Lil scoffed.

"You think you can do everything better than me, Phillip, but you can't," Lil insisted, crossing her arms over her chest again.

"Guys, I really don't want another argument, so please don't" –

"Can too, Lillian," Phil said, smirking.

"Cannot."

"Can too!"

"Cannot!"

"Can TOO!"

"Can" –

"Guys, I agree with Chuckie, we don't need to hear this," Zack finally said, speaking for the first time in a few minutes.

While it might've seemed that he'd regained composure after shouting at Kimi, truthfully, he was still hurting, though did his best to hide this, and tried to act as he normally would.

Phil and Lil stopped arguing and nodded.

"So, should we just scream again?" Lil asked.

"Wait, you guys screamed the first time?" Susie asked with surprise.

Lil giggled, recalling the memory of them all screaming.

"Uh huh, we 'cided that it was the only way to get Tommy's mommy's tensions," Lil explained.

"And talking about screaming, that reminded me of Dil's flower," Phil said, taking it out. "If we're gonna scream again, I think I better put this on the table where he should be taking his nap for him."

Susie, not wanting to hear Dil's screaming again, since even as a nice girl, she had to admit that it was exasperating, attempted to stop Phil from any further thoughts on this.

"That, or you could wait until he's up from his nap and put the flower up there for him," Susie stated simply, smiling. "Plus, not only is screaming for attention not such a good idea, but Tommy's mommy is coming for us anyway."

Confused at what she had just said, the others looked to see that she was right, and Didi opened the patio door, smiling. Susie noted that she was, obliviously, in a better mood now that she'd gotten Dil to nap.

"Cookies are ready, kids," Didi told them with a smile, watching as they all got up and walked inside.

"Yum, Tommy, I love your mommy's cookies," Chuckie said with joy.

"Uh huh, they're some of the bestest cookies I've ever tasted," Tommy said with glee.

"Um, Tommy, not to be mean, but those are some of the only cookies you've ever tasted," Zack reminded him.

"That's true, but I'm sure that I'll never find cookies better than my mommy's," the taller baby noted with a smile.

To Didi, of course, this was all just baby babble, which she found to be adorable.

Once they all reached the kitchen, Didi put the majority of them in high chairs, while Chuckie, Kimi, and Susie simply sat with pillows on their chairs, since not only were that many high chairs available, though they were older, and didn't have as much of a need for high chairs.

As soon as Didi took the cookies out of the oven, Angelica, of course, came running in.

"Oh, hello, Angelica," Didi said with a smile. "Where have you been?"

"In the bathroom, Aunt Didi," Angelica said, trying with all her might not to glare at the babies. "Aunt Didi, are those cookies I smell?"

Before she could answer, Angelica had already taken a glance at the cookies, and smelled them to the point where she had inhaled them. Once she finished, she exhaled, grinning widely as she did so. Just as everyone knew, Angelica was a lover of cookies, and usually made sure that she got her hands on one at least once every two days, if not every day. It might contribute to the fact that she hated vegetables.

"Err, yes, Angelica, those are cookies," Didi told her, finding it a bit odd that her niece had inhaled the cookies, though decided to let it go. "I'm assuming that you'd like one?"

Angelica nodded repeatedly, to which Didi smiled, glad to see that Angelica openly liked her baking.

"Well, you can sit down with Susie and the babies. I'm also glad to see that you've calmed down." 

As she usually did, Angelica scowled at this as Didi turned around, but smiled again once she turned back around.

"Thank you so much for the cookies, Aunt Didi," Angelica said pleasantly before Susie could.

"You're welcome, Angelica."

Realizing this, Susie scowled at her, and, with a smirk, said the same.

"You're welcome, Susie."

It seemed that the smell of cookies couldn't get past Dil's nose, either. He had been enjoying his nap, though since it was about time for him to be waking up, anyway, he sniffed.

'Hey, what's that smell?' He thought. 'Did mommy make cookies?'

Wanting to see if, as he theorized, she had, Dil slowly began to open his eyes. With Didi being in the other room, serving the older kids cookies, she, unfortunately, didn't notice. Dil took another sniff, realizing that yes, he was right, Didi had made cookies.

'Mommy made cookies, but she didn't tell me,' Dil thought sadly. 'Well, let's get as mad as Yucky is!'

Not long after having these thoughts, Dil began screaming at the top of his lungs, nearly shaking things. Obliviously, the others didn't fail to hear this. The babies and Angelica groaned as they heard Dil scream, since, as Chuckie had put it, their ears couldn't stand his screaming.

"Wow, Phillip," Lil said, gulping down her cookie. "He can scream louderer than the both of us."

Phil scowled at this.

"Hey, yeah, he can," Phil agreed for once.

On reflex, Didi apologized to the kids and ran into the other room to try to calm her youngest son down, all while sighing. It was during this time that Angelica decided to taunt the babies and Susie.

"So, Pickles, who did you think you were when you yelled at me like that?" Angelica asked, glaring at her cousin. "Huh, Pickles? A growed up?"

Tommy didn't feel like answering any of her questions, but he also felt that he owed it to her after yelling at her, since he felt guilty for doing so.

"Well, uh, no, Angelica, I didn't think I was a growed up, I just thought you were being mean," Tommy stated simply.

Angelica laughed evilly.

"Well, Pickles, you've got a lot coming for ya now," Angelica said, scoffing. "You should've never messed with Angelica Charlotte Pickles."

It was at this moment that Susie felt it was right to step in.

"Hey, Angelica, don't say that to Tommy," Susie said, standing up for the bald baby. "He's only human, and I'm surprised that he didn't yell at you earlier, with how mean you always are to us. I think you got what you deserved."

Angelica rolled her eyes, though deep down, she was a bit hurt that Susie thought all of this. While she was known to bully the babies, that didn't mean that she didn't care for them at least somewhat.

"Whatever, Carmichael, point is, that I'm getting my revenge," Angelica told them. "And no dumb baby can stop me, nor a dumb growed up."

It was a bit after she had said this that Didi took Dil into the room, as he continued to scream.

"No 'fense, Aunt Didi, but did you have to take Dil in here?"

Didi, not pleased with Angelica's comment, managed to stop herself from glaring at the four-year old.

"I'm trying to calm him down, Angelica, so I'm walking him around the house."

It was at this that Angelica quieted down, though in boredom, she sighed, eating the cookie crumbs off her plate.

Dil did briefly stop screaming and crying when they were around the cookies, but Didi failed to notice this, being too distracted with everything stressful going on in her life.

Susie, being as helpful as she was, noticed this, and smiled at Didi.

"Mrs. Pickles, I think Dil wants a cookie," Susie acknowledged.

Didi's eyes widened once she realized that the four-year old girl was right, to which she turned around and picked up a cookie for Dil.

"Here's a cookie, Dil, sweetie. I would put you in your high chair, but there aren't enough of those right now."

Once again, Dil stopped crying after hearing this, and smiled at the cookie, mumbling the word, "cookie," to himself before eating it in her arms. His mother smiled while watching this, and though there were now crumbs on the floor and her sweater dress, she was still happy to see her baby happy.

"Thank you, Susie. You can read babies better than I can. You know, you should be a babysitter one day."

The girl in question grinned once she heard this compliment. Her rival, Angelica, was immediately jealous of this.

"Aunt Didi, could I be a babysitter one day, too?"

"You can be whatever you want, Angelica."

Having clearly not gotten the answer that she wanted, Angelica groaned, to which Susie silently chuckled.

Obliviously, as a baby, and an immature one at that, Dil only found something else to be upset about. Not long after eating the cookie, he recalled his flower, and began screaming once again.

"Oh, no," Didi mumbled.

Tommy, not wanting to see his mother so stressed, whispered to his friends.

"Guys, do something to make Dilly happy," Tommy whispered to them.

"And how can we do that?" Kimi asked, still a bit annoyed from earlier.

"What about that flower from earlier?" Tommy asked.

"Oh yeah," Phil said, taking it out of his pocket and putting it on the table. "Maybe your mom might finally notice that he wants it."

"Yeah, growed ups are clueless to what we want most of the time," Lil said.

As Didi continued to walk Dil around, Dil finally caught notice of the flower, and stopped crying, beginning to point to it.

"What is it, sweetie?" Didi asked.

Dil, still unable to talk since he wasn't even a year old yet, only continued to point, hoping that she'd understand.

"Mrs. Pickles, I think he wants that flower," Susie said, nearly sighing.

Dil nodded with a smile, to which Didi walked him over to the flower, wrinkling her nose once she saw it.

"Where'd you kids get this one from?" Didi asked. "It sure is… interesting."

Dil giggled at this, and while he wanted his mother to walk him over to it, Didi wasn't so sure if she wanted to anymore. Noticing this, and wanting her to be faster, Dil began crying again, making the Rugrats cover their ears. At this point, Didi was getting sick of hearing her youngest son scream, and picked up the flower for him, allowing him to hold it. She wasn't sure how long she should let him keep it, but decided to keep it long enough for him to stay happy.

"Anyway, kids, you can go back outside now if you'd like," Didi told them.

"No," Chuckie said with a smile, shaking his head.

This was a word that he had learned not that long ago; he could speak a few words now, though 'no' was his most frequent.

"Huh?" Didi asked.

"What Chuckie means is that we want to stay inside this time, Mrs. Pickles," Susie explained.

"Oh, well, I'll bring Spike back in and make sure that the patio door is shut," Didi said with a smile. "For now, though, I'll go see how your father is doing, Chuckie."

Chuckie and the others nodded as Didi went to bring Tommy and Dil's dog, Spike, back in, before they returned to talking.

"Oh, I'm sorry to say this, but I almost forgotted about Spike," Tommy said.

"Yeah, me too," Chuckie admitted, looking and feeling guilty for this.

"It's okay, you guys, Spike hasn't been barking a lot anyway," Zack said. "He's probably sleeping."

"I agree with Zack, you guys shouldn't feel bad about it," Susie said with a smile. "That's not what we're here for, though. So, Chuckie, about your mommy's present?"

Chuckie nodded.

"Yeah, we should get back to that," He agreed.

They were happy to hear Spike run into the house, barking.

"Spike!" Tommy exclaimed happily.

"He started barking up a storm after you guys left," Didi acknowledged.

Spike ran close enough to the babies so that they could pet him.

"Awe, you guys just have the best dog," Susie said.

"Yeah, the best," Angelica said nonchalantly.

rugratsrugratsrugratsrugratsrugratsrugratsrugratsrugratsrugrats

Author's Note: My mom just came in, and, sorry for the wait, so, night, guys!


	4. Tommy Stands Up

Author's note: I just uploaded chapter three of 'Bad Haircut' as I am typing this, so, hope that you end up checking it out!

Sorry to have updated this chapter so late, and I hope to upload three new stories today, along with update about two more stories. I also just got a new story idea, so, hope to finish this story sometime this week, so that I can move onto another story in which Angelica is the main character, and a few more stories along with that. The story idea has to do with cavities, if you haven't guessed the plot idea yet.

BTW, thanks for reviews, and I'll be replying to them shortly.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rugrats, the series and its characters belongs to Klasky Csupo. Peter and Zack belong to both TCKing12, now going by TheWarioMushroomKing12, and celrock, whom I will be talking to through email shortly about a project of ours.

Anyways, let's get started on this chapter, and hopefully the next one (possibly the last depending on how this chapter goes) along with that!

 **Kira's Birthday**

 **Chapter Four**

After that whole fiasco had went down, the babies, Susie, and Angelica excused themselves from the room.

"Oh, of course, kids," Didi told them. "Have fun, and hopefully no trouble!"

"Don't worry, Mrs. Pickles, there's a good chance that nothing bad will happen," Susie responded with a smile.

"Yeah, Aunt Didi, so you shouldn't worry," Angelica said, giving a quick glare at Susie before smiling at Didi.

As for Didi, she felt good to see that the two could be trusted.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that I can trust you two, and please, for the sake of baby Dil, avoid trouble, kids," Didi explained, to which both girls nodded.

"Don't worry, Aunt Didi, we'll do as told, just like perfect little girls," Angelica insisted.

Didi giggled.

"Well, wait, what are you kids going to do?" She asked.

"We're gonna figure that out once we're in there," Susie responded.

Didi nodded.

"Well, alright, but just to warn you two, Susie, Angelica, your fathers are coming for you in an hour, to pick you up and take you home, so have fun," Didi explained.

Angelica frowned.

"Awe, Aunt Didi, can't we stay longer?" Angelica begged.

Though sorry to see her niece so upset about this, Didi knew that she couldn't simply call off any plans, and told Angelica the truth.

"I'm afraid not, Angelica, your father is taking you somewhere, and so is yours, Susie," Didi explained. "I'd keep you two over longer if I could, though. For now, I suggest that you two go and have fun with the babies."

"Okay, Mrs. Pickles," Susie said with a smile.

They left the room, with Angelica openly rolling her eyes at Susie as they did so.

"You are such a goody-goody, Carmichael," Angelica complained.

"Hey, you were doing the same thing," Susie reminded her, to which Angelica groaned.

"So, what are you and the dumb babies gonna do that's so 'portent?" Angelica asked. "You know, 'portent enough to leave me out of it!"

Unsure of how to answer this question, Tommy attempted to, in his own way, change the subject, though not before apologizing to her.

"I'm sorry that we did that to you, Angelica," Tommy apologized. "It wasn't right."

Since she didn't get apologies very often, Angelica was unsure of how to respond to this, and instead used one of her defense mechanisms; to show anger if someone confused her or, in most cases, did something nice for her.

"Well, you dumb baby, just don't do it again!" Angelica stated loudly, crossing her arms.

At this, Tommy's guilt seemed to whisk away, replaced with a scowl that Angelica rarely got from her cousin.

"Gee, Angelica, I actually felt bad about it and I even said sorry for it, but now you're only trying to make me feel worse," Tommy said. "Sometimes I wonder why we even hang around you."

The others were silent after hearing this, and Tommy felt both disappointed in his cousin and himself. As for Angelica, she had assumed that Tommy and the others would just ignore her insult like they usually did, though realized that Tommy really did feel guilty for having said what he did to her.

For once, she was about to apologize for what she had said to him, though Tommy interrupted her.

"It's better if you don't say anything, Angelica," Tommy said.

His best friend, Chuckie, felt guilty as well, though after witnessing the exchange between the two cousins, decided that it was best not to say anything until things were taken care of.

Susie, meanwhile, attempted to make small talk with the babies, since she didn't like the situation, and wanted to take the attention away from Tommy and Angelica's current issue.

"So, just like Tommy's mommy asked, what do you guys wanna do?" Susie asked.

Chuckie, beginning to realize what she was doing, decided to help with this, since he was feeling uncomfortable with the tension between his friends that was going on. For a three-year old, he felt it was all too much, and, saw this as a chance to help.

"I don't know, Susie, long as it's not dangerous," Chuckie said with a smile.

Though she was about to say the same line that Tommy always said, Susie instead recognized what Chuckie was trying to do, and winked at him.

"Don't worry, Chuckie, I promise that it won't be dangerous," Susie told him. "Don't you guys think so?"

"Awe, c'mon, Susie, danger is fun," Phil stated, chuckling.

"Yeah, why else do you think we go on so many ventures?" Lil asked.

Susie, happy to see that her plan was working, continued to give them warm smiles.

"Well, adventures don't always have to be dangerous, the most important part about adventures is to have fun," Susie explained. "That's what Alisa always says."

By now, they were all used to Susie and her older siblings, who always gave them advice.

"Did you and Angelica bring anything along?" Chuckie asked.

Whenever they came over, the two four-year olds usually brought a doll or something with them in case boredom took them over. It wasn't as if the babies had ideas _every_ time they came over, in which their toys were a big help.

Angelica would've usually answered this question with a teasing tone or so, explaining that yes, she did have a new toy, though the babies couldn't touch it. However, this time, she gave no answer, which worried Susie and Chuckie.

"Angelica, are you okay?" Kimi asked, speaking for the first time in a while.

This surprised the others, since they had nearly forgotten that she was there. Angelica looked up at her, faking another smile.

"Yeah, I'm just fine," Angelica answered. "And, to answer your question, Chuckie, yeah, I did bring a toy along."

Since she never allowed them to play with her toys, the babies were excited, though didn't feel much like showing it. This excluded the twins, of course.

"You have a new toy?" Phil asked excitedly.

"Is it prettiful?" Lil asked, smiling.

"Yeah, it's another Cynthia doll," Angelica announced, secretly glad to see that things were returning to normal, though still feeling guilty. "And she comes with a whole playset!"

At this, Kimi began to show her excitement, smiling as Angelica revealed the playset.

"That's so cool, Angelica!" Kimi said, nearly feeling that her anger at Zack was gone. "Do we get to play with it?"

Of course, even Phil and Lil looked at Kimi with a look that said 'no.'

"I'm glad that you like it so much, Kimi, but, maybe next time," Angelica said. "I at least want to wait until it looks old before I let any of you guys play with it."

Noticeably, her tone was nicer than it had been before, which did make them feel a tad bit happier, though still also disappointed.

"Awe, okay," Kimi said, her anger slowly returning.

However, she only didn't snap because her thoughts assured her that at least she eventually would get to play with the set, even if it wouldn't be on that very day.

After hearing this, Susie remembered the new toy she had brought along; it was a large kit that showed how to make necklaces out of beads. Taking it out from the backpack she had brought along, Susie placed it on the floor, smiling.

"I have an idea," Susie told them. "Why don't we play with my necklace kit?"

The others agreed to this, excluding Kimi and Angelica. Both were jealous of this, since Angelica expected them to beg her to play with _her_ new toy, and Kimi since Susie had been the one whom had gotten Zack's attention.

"Well, okay, Susie, that sounds safe," Chuckie said with a smile.

Susie noticed that Angelica and Kimi were, instead of sitting with them, just standing there, appearing jealous. However, Lil was the one that commented on this.

"Hey, Kimi, Angelica, don't you guys wanna play with Susie's new necklace kit?" Lil asked.

"Yeah," Phil said. "It looks cool!"

Susie thanked him, before turning to Angelica and Kimi with the same look of confusion. She had expected this from Angelica, since it happened often, though Kimi usually joined them.

"Kimi, don't you want to play?" Tommy asked with confusion.

"No thanks," Kimi said, crossing her arms.

"Is something wrong, Kimi?" Susie asked, concerned.

The three-pigtailed toddler was about to answer, though Zack spoke before that could happen.

"I don't think she does, she's been acting mean all day, even when we tried to talk to her," Zack explained. "I think we should just leave her alone until she realizes how she's been acting."

As it seemed that she had been doing lately, instead of showing how hurt she felt, Kimi scoffed.

"It's not like even Mr. Smarty Pants knows everything," Kimi stated, crossing her arms.

The twins, clearly impressed by this argument, egged Kimi on.

"Ooh, this won't be good," Lil said.

"Someone's in trouble," Phil said.

Of course, Zack saw this as Kimi trying to make trouble, and continued the argument.

"I never said I know everything, Kimi!" Zack stated. "You're just being really mean today for some reason that you won't tell us, so you're trying to move your anger onto me!"

Though Kimi knew that some parts of this were pure truth, this only made her angrier.

"There you go again, Mr. Smarty Pants! Always trying to sound smart and correct people!"

"Yeah, well" –

"Guys, could you just stop?" Chuckie asked. "This is really selfish of the both of you; this is supposed to be about my mommy's birthday, not your argument!"

This made them both stop, as they both mumbled an apology to Chuckie, though since they were both still angry, not to each other.

"I'll join," Kimi mumbled.

Susie blinked, before continuing on with her necklace kit, while Angelica rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to get a juice box," She stated.

"Alright," Susie responded, before returning to her kit.

Angelica, feeling that no one cared that she was leaving the room, gave a small 'humph' before disappearing into the kitchen.

"So, what does this kit include?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, does it include instructions?" Zack asked.

Not long after the two asked these questions, did Susie search through the set and pull out a few boxes of beads and string, along with a set of instructions.

"Turns out that yes, it does include instructions," Susie answered.

"Can you read yet, Susie?" Chuckie asked.

The four-year old nodded.

"Yeah, I can," She told them. "Probably not the whole thing, though."

After saying this, she picked up the set of instructions and attempted to read them. While she did find that she could successfully read most of them, there were a few words that confused her.

"I can read most of the words, but not all."

Hearing this, Zack immediately decided that, as her friend, he needed to help Susie. Even though he wasn't even a year old yet, Zack had learned a lot, and, even if he hadn't memorized the full alphabet, Zack assumed that he could help Susie with words she didn't know. He crawled over to her, reading the instructions with her.

"Which words don't you know?" Zack asked.

Susie pointed to the words that she truthfully couldn't comprehend, to which Zack tried to figure out how to say them, as well.

"Well, I think that first word there says 'bead,'" Zack read. "I'm pretty sure it's not meant to have two e's, cuz my Aunt Celeste told me it has an 'a.'"

As they continued this, Kimi looked on in jealousy instead of admiration, wondering if Zack would've helped her if she couldn't read something.

'Why does she keep bothering him?' Kimi thought. 'It's no fair!'

The other babies watched as Zack helped Susie with the last few words. Once they had finished, he sat back down.

Susie smiled at him.

"Good job, Zack!" Susie said. "I never knew that a baby under a year old was capable of that."

Of course, after this congratulation from Susie, Zack felt a little bit better about all that had went down with him and Kimi earlier. However, he still felt that even her compliments couldn't compare to the fact that he had argued and supposedly lost Kimi's friendship.

"Thank you, Susie," Zack said with a smile. "People tend to underestimate my smarts."

This, of course, was mostly true with the adults, most of which assumed that Zack was just like the other babies in terms of intelligence. However, they had no idea of just how smart he and the other babies were.

"I can see," Susie said, turning back to the instructions. "It looks like we have everything that we need. Zack, wanna read it together?"

Pleased to see that someone was recognizing his intelligence, and that, as one of the smarter babies he had someone to relate to, Zack smiled, nodded, and crawled over to Susie so that they could read together.

Of course, this didn't please Kimi much, who kept quiet, though clearly was annoyed by the concept.

'I never realized it, but they're real similar,' Kimi thought. 'Too similar. Similar enough to be married when they're growed up.'

After thinking this, Kimi became worried, looking back and forth, which her older brother certainly didn't fail to notice.

"Kimi, what's wrong?" Chuckie asked.

"I dunno, Chuckie," Kimi lied. "I just… _dunno_."

Since he, too, felt like that sometimes, Chuckie simply nodded before turning around and allowing Zack and Susie to finish explaining the instructions.

Kimi continued to look on, both sad because of everything that had happened, and fearful of Zack and Susie beginning a relationship in the future.

"And, that's how you make a necklace," Susie finished.

"Looks like there are a lot of steps to making this necklace," Tommy noted.

"Yeah, but what if we don't finish it in time for me and Kimi's mommy's birthday?" Chuckie asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, Chuckie, we have a lot of time," Susie assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

They all began making the necklaces, including Kimi, who decided that as long as she was there, she might as well try to be tolerable. However, since her pent up anger was distracting her, she was continuously messing up with the necklace.

"Uh, Kimi, you're doing it wrong," Susie pointed out. "It goes like this."

With her own necklace, Susie demonstrated, and showed Kimi exactly what she was doing wrong.

"Oh, thank you so much, Susie," Kimi stated sarcastically, scowling. "But I think I'm better off on my own."

The others weren't all that surprised at seeing this attitude. Deciding that she needed to calm herself down before helping with her mother's birthday, Kimi groaned before taking a seat rather far away from the Rugrats.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Chaz had recently come back downstairs, and, as promised, Angelica was helping herself to a juice box.

Didi was humming a tune to herself, hoping to finish with lunch soon.

"Aunt Didi, what type of juice is this?" Angelica asked, scaring Didi.

Didi turned around, calming down once she realized that it was only her niece. She looked at the juice box, before responding.

"That's apple juice, Angelica," Didi explained.

However, Angelica had already drunk some of it, and, hearing this, scowled, running into the bathroom to spit it out.

"Ugh!" Angelica shouted. "Nothing is going good for me today! It starts with Finster being a jerk, then Pickles has a dumb baby mood swing, and now they're just being really annoying."

The four-year old groaned.

"Why, if I had my way all the time, then the babies would be my servants and they'd do everything I wanna do."

She kicked the toilet, only to grab onto her shoe when she found that it hurt.

"Ugh, if only there was a way that I could get revenge on them."

Of course, after saying this, an idea that she considered genius came to her.

"Wait… exactly! I _can_ get revenge on Carmichael and those dumb babies!"

Though not before putting her Cynthia doll box down, the toddler went inside the bathroom and sat on the toilet. She was perfectly ready to start planning.

In the end, she decided that she had formed a mastermind plan, and hopped off the toilet with glee. She took her older Cynthia doll out of her shirt pocket, preparing to talk to the doll as she usually did.

"Looks like I'll be getting revenge, Cynthia, and trust me, it'll be good – and naughty, too. But hopefully Santa doesn't see."

After saying this to the doll, Angelica did her 'evil' laugh, before she heard a knock on the door.

"Angelica, is that you?"

'Oh no, it's Aunt Didi,' Angelica thought. 'Act casual!'

"Yes, Aunt Didi."

"Well, what are you doing in there? You've been in there for a long time and I'm starting to get worried."

Angelica groaned.

"Just uh… finishing up, Aunt Didi."

It appeared that her aunt accepted this explanation for why she was in the bathroom for so long.

"Well, okay, Angelica."

She then left as Angelica got off the toilet, still grasping Cynthia tight in her hand. Once again, Angelica laughed evilly.

"See, Cynthia? I'll get what I want. We'll get what we want. It's just all in the plans of a growed up genius, isn't it, Cynthia?"

She stared at the emotionless doll for a second with a grin, before opening the door to exit the bathroom.

"That's right, Cynthia. It's my bestest plan ever, and it'll all work out if those dumb babies don't get in the way, or Carmichael."

Of course, none of them knew exactly what was in store for them all.

RUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATS

 **I know, I know, it's nine 'o clock at night and I'm uploading this. I know that I need to start going to bed earlier to get prepared for school, and after eating dinner, I will. I hope that you like this update here, and, since I'm about to eat dinner (mac and cheese, my favorite, yum!) I hope to get chapter five of this story uploaded either tonight or tomorrow, when it's revealed what exactly Angelica's plan is, and how the babies and Susie are doing with the necklaces.**


	5. Chapter Five

Author's note: At the time that I am typing up this chapter, I have just uploaded chapter four of this story, and a Phil/Kimi one shot that I recommend you check out. Turns out that this story will probably have one more chapter before it ends.

I'll tell you now that in this chapter and the next one, things get serious.

In addition, to anyone who has been bullied by her before, guest user 'Ug' has returned. I hope that it is not a long stay.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rugrats. The series belongs to Klasky Csupo.

 **Kira's Birthday**

 **Chapter Five: Angelica's Plan**

After walking out of the restroom, Angelica walked downstairs, contemplating on her plan, and adding a few extra thoughts to it here and there.

'This will be the bestest plan that I ever came up with,' Angelica thought. 'And Carmichael and those dumb babies will see. They'll see!'

Slowly, the four-year old crept near the room in which the babies and Susie were making necklaces. Since she had been left out of their plan, she had no idea why they were making necklaces, of course. Once she saw this, she scowled, though made sure not to make herself known by keeping silent.

'How could they prefer Carmichael over me?' Angelica thought with jealousy. 'I'm so much better, and I've known those dumb babies longer than she has.'

Of course, even a spoiled brat such as Angelica harbored a guilty conscience. She wondered whether she should go through with this for a minute. After thinking, she decided that this was not evil. It was only payback. All that she was going to do was show them how they made her feel.

Holding her head up high, she walked into the room where Didi was sitting at the table, discussing things with Chaz. The four-year old was about to ask a question, though it seemed that nature did not want her plan to go through, since Dil began crying at that very moment.

With a sigh, Didi ran over to Dil and picked him up, walking him over to the cabinet. The matron picked up the formula from the top cabinet, and fed it to Dil, immediately calming him. Over her two years as a mother, she had learned that most of the time, when one of her sons woke up crying from a nap, it was because they were hungry.

Once she finished feeding him, Didi put the formula back in the cabinet, closing it, and began to walk into the next room. Much to Angelica's joy, she noticed her standing there.

"Oh, hello, Angelica," Didi said. "I'll be right back, dear."

Angelica smiled and nodded, simply standing there impatiently. The question that she had to ask Didi would jumpstart her plan.

Meanwhile, the babies were halfway through making the necklaces, though Susie was becoming frustrated since Kimi kept messing up hers, and the twins were not doing much better. However, as she usually did, she managed to keep her temper.

"Now, Lil, you've jumbled it all up," Susie insisted, holding in her breath to keep from sighing.

The twins had indeed made a mess of their necklaces, which did not make Susie much happy since they were only wasting beads, string, and numerous products along with Kimi.

"Well, I'm sorry, Susie, I just think it looks interesting," Lil stated, looking at her 'masterpiece' sideways.

"Heh heh, me too," Phil said, with his appearing even more jumbled than his twin sister's did.

Susie finally sighed as Didi walked in, setting Dil down with them.

"I hope you kids don't mind," Didi said. "Dil just finished his nap and I think he'd love sitting here with you guys, making necklaces. How is that going?"

For once, Susie faked a smile, though she truthfully wasn't all that happy about the way that her materials were being used.

"Perfect, Mrs. Pickles," Susie lied.

Since Susie was such a nice girl and since Chaz had other issues going on, Didi bought this.

"Glad to hear that, Susie," Didi said before walking out.

Once she walked back in, she was about to sit down, though Angelica asked her question before this could happen, since the blonde was getting impatient.

"Aunt Didi, what about lunch?" Angelica asked.

Realizing that she had forgotten this, Didi opened her mouth, only to close it because she found the habit rude.

"Oh, Angelica, thank you so much for reminding me, I'd nearly forgotten about lunch," Didi said. "It'll be ready in five minutes."

Angelica scowled at this, though got up and searched for a good hiding spot. She understood that she had to plan a few things beforehand.

"Angelica, what are you looking for?"

With a jump, she immediately turned around, though relief quickly overcame her.

"Oh, I think I dropped Cynthia somewhere. Just looking for her."

Once again believing this story, Didi sat back down with Chaz, continuing to discuss the matters of Kira's birthday.

"Chaz, you really need to come out of your shell," Didi told him. "Lipschitz said that if an adult is worried about something such as this, their children can sense it."

Obliviously, this did not help the nervous man much, instead only causing him to stress even more, even if that was not Didi's intention.

"Oh no, I can't imagine how Chuckie and Kimi must feel about this," Chaz said. "I've been stressed this whole time, and now they might feel sorry for me! Oh, Didi, you're right, I _do_ need to get myself together."

Didi looked at him with sympathy, feeling extremely sorry for Chaz herself. As much as she wanted to help, even she herself as a longtime friend of Chaz's didn't know how to help him, and that didn't feel too good.

"Oh, Chaz," Didi said in sympathy. "Things will get better. I'm sure that Chuckie and Kimi are distracted with other things, anyway. They are indeed very smart, but they're also happy children and they're probably more focused on the necklaces that they're making with Susie right now than Kira's birthday, trust me."

Luckily, for Didi, this calmed Chaz down a bit.

"I hope you're right, Deed," Chaz said, pouring himself another cup of tea.

Unfortunately, for them, it seemed that Didi was wrong.

It was only getting later and later, which Chuckie and the others recognized. Phil was the one who pointed this out.

"You had better hurry up if you want your new mommy to see your necklace, Chuckie," Phil told him.

"Yeah," Lil agreed. "Me and Phil always noticed that when it's getting later, it gets darkerer outside. I don't know all my colors yet, but it's definitely not as sunny as it was earlier."

The others nodded, sympathizing with Chuckie as he began to worry about this.

"Phil, Lil, did you have to tell him that?" Susie whispered angrily.

"Well, sorry, we just thought that as one of our friends, he should know," Phil stated nonchalantly.

Since none of them was remotely evil, it wasn't that the two lacked sympathy for the three-year old sitting next to them, shaking with fear; they sympathized with him, though were too young to understand not only true sympathy, though also what was right to say and what was wrong. It appeared that the pair of two-year olds had yet to grasp this concept.

"Ugh," Susie mumbled, before turning to Chuckie with a sympathetic smile. "It's okay, Chuckie. We have time. Just don't stress yourself out."

"Yeah, didn't your sister Alisa say that stress causes wrinkles?" Tommy asked, trying to help. "You don't wanna look like my grandpa at only three, Chuckie. Trust me."

This only frightened Chuckie more, though Kimi attempted to sympathize with him. It seemed that, even if she really wasn't feeling it, she was at least willing to try to briefly get her joyous personality back just for her brother.

"Don't worry, Chuckie, the more time you spend worrying, the less time you spend making necklaces," Kimi said with as much joy as she could force.

Once again, it wasn't that she didn't feel sorry for her brother; everything was still hurting from earlier, and as a toddler, she didn't know how to deal with it all.

However, this seemed to be enough for Chuckie, because he gave a small smile, thanked her, and returned to the necklace. Kimi finally gave a real smile at this, though it disappeared and she sat down.

Meanwhile, Angelica had already discovered a place to hide once the 'crime scene' would take place. She continued to grasp her Cynthia doll tightly in her hand, and found a good hiding spot.

'If this doesn't work, I can just hide upstairs,' Angelica thought.

She grinned before making sure that no one would see her while she hid. It seemed that, as long as she hid at the right angle, it would be impossible to see the two pigtails of hers that stuck out. While most kids her age assumed that if they covered their eyes, you couldn't see them, Angelica was smarter than that, and understood from television that she actually had to hide well.

Once she had chosen her hiding spot, she stood up and walked back into the other room, pretending to be baffled as she watched Chaz freak out about the current situation, and Didi attempt to comfort him. Once Chaz noticed her, he pretended to be calmer, feeling that a four-year old shouldn't be subjected to his anxiety.

"Oh, hello, Angelica," Chaz said.

Didi turned around and smiled once she saw Angelica.

"Why, hello, Angelica, are you ready for lunch?" Didi asked with a smile.

"Of course I am, Aunt Didi," Angelica stated in a delighting tone. "Thank you so much for making us all lunch."

Didi nodded, and excused herself to go make them lunch. Angelica watched this with a grin, knowing that this would help her plan.

'And Aunt Didi and Uncle Stu and Mr. Finster will never find out about it,' Angelica thought. 'I can't even wait to see the look on Susie's face once she sees what I'm gonna do. Then maybe she'll stop being such a goody goody.'

"Angelica, maybe you should go and play with the babies while this all happens," Chaz suggested.

Of course, Didi and Chaz had no idea of what all had went down between Angelica, Susie, and the babies, therefore having no idea as to why she didn't want to play with them.

"Oh, but Mr. Finster, the company of growed ups is always just so much better," Angelica lied. "Besides, my Aunt Didi almost has lunch ready, and lunch is real good!"

Though raising an eyebrow at this excuse, nonetheless he decided that the point wasn't worth arguing.

It took many impatient minutes, but Didi eventually finished making lunch for them all. Angelica stared at the food in admiration, though quickly remembered what she was going to do, and instead ran back into the room, beginning to hold her stomach tightly as Didi entered.

"Kids, lunch is ready," Didi called. "Angelica?"

In concern for her niece, she finally turned around when she heard moans, and saw Angelica holding her stomach with a sickly expression.

"Oh, Aunt Didi, I don't feel so good," Angelica said.

Walking into the other room, the other babies raised an eyebrow at Angelica.

"Oh, kids, move over, she's sick," Didi exclaimed, running quickly to make sure that Angelica wouldn't upchunk on her rug.

"Sick?" Kimi asked.

"I say she deserves it," Zack said, crossing his arms. "I mean, we all sort of lost our temper with her today."

A few of the others nodded in agreement, hopping up, and following Chuckie and Susie into the other room to finish with the necklaces that they were making. While pretending that she was sick, Angelica overheard this and noticed it. Of course, this only made the blonde even angrier, and she nearly squeezed her Cynthia doll to the point where Cynthia was about to break. Didi herself walked in with medicines and was about to pick Angelica up and take her to bed, assuming that despite the four-year old being completely able to walk, it'd be the nicest thing to do. Though she was stressing over the situation of having numerous babies in the house and her niece apparently being sick, she did take the time to notice that Angelica was squeezing Cynthia tightly.

"Angelica, what are you doing to Cynthia?" Didi asked.

The four-year old in question had been too angry to realize that her aunt was standing right there, staring, though still highly concerned about her.

"Oh, uh," Angelica began, before turning her tone to a sickly one, dropping Cynthia and grasping her stomach again. "I think I'm about to throw up, Aunt Didi! I was just using Cynthia as an, err, stress reliever, like mommy does."

The last part was at least true. Angelica had seen her mother use stress balls, or, as she referred to them as to her daughter, 'stress relievers,' that helped whenever she was upset about work or something in general.

"I use them when I'm angry, Angelica," Charlotte had once explained to her daughter.

From then on, Angelica used this as a good lie whenever she could, and always secretly thanked her mother for this information.

Too worried about Angelica, Didi did not take time to think that over and instead picked up Angelica and Cynthia, carrying both the doll and the little girl upstairs.

"How sick do you feel?" Didi asked worriedly.

Angelica was about to lie and say '5,' before she realized that then, her aunt would only expect her to heal from a stomachache faster, so instead she chose '7 1/2.'

"7 ½," Angelica whispered, making as many sickly faces as she could muster, occasionally glancing at Cynthia, of which she was glad was all right.

Hearing this didn't make Didi slow down.

"My goodness, 7 ½!" Didi exclaimed to herself.

Because her aunt was practically running, it didn't take long for Angelica to get to bed.

"Now, you get some good rest, and I'll give you medicine in about an hour or so. A bit surprised that this all happened at lunch, but I guess that you had a little too much breakfast."

Angelica nodded as Didi ran back downstairs, still worried, though also watching her step since she was in heels.

Once her aunt had left, Angelica grinned.

"Well, Cynthia, our plan is almost in action," Angelica whispered. "And I'm real sorry for almost squeezing you into pieces earlier. I was just using you as a stress ball or whatever my mommy said."

The only time when Angelica didn't have difficulty saying 'sorry' was when she was talking to her toys, or saying it sarcastically. She often said the last part to Susie, especially whenever she did something that Susie certainly didn't like.

When she was with Cynthia, that was all different, and, since it was easier, Angelica apologized to the doll every time she felt it was needed.

"Okay, so, Susie and the dumb babies are downstairs. If we want this plan to work, I need you and my new Cynthia to get onto my bed, Cynthia, especially to make Aunt Didi only feel more sorry for me. Got it?"

Since she was a doll, and therefore frankly didn't talk, at least not to humans, Angelica simply pretended that her doll had nodded, and placed both Cynthia and her newer Cynthia on the bed, ignoring the playset.

"Now, I'm only four, but, I still gotta see if I can run fast enough for this all to happen."

In Angelica's mind, she knew that Cynthia wouldn't exactly respond, though pretended that she heard her say 'Of course you can, Angelica, you did with Tommy's lamp.'

"Yeah, Cynthia, and I'm still not so proud of the punishment I got for that, or even what I did, and mommy and daddy didn't like it so much, either, but this time, I'm not a dumb little three-year old, I'm four now! I'm almost in kindergarden; I'm practically the queen of the world!"

Once again, Angelica pretended that she heard a response from the doll.

'That's right, Angelica, you're the fastest four-year old growed up I know,' she pretended Cynthia said.

"Of course I am, Cynthia. But enough with the small talk, we need to get going. I gotta get down there before those dumb babies finish lunch."

'But how?'

"Ugh, how else, Cynthia? Either I use one of those dumb babies' toys, maybe Tommy's, like that Reptar doll he gotted for his second birthday, the robotic one, since I hearded that that one has a system installed to it, or I go down there myself."

'But what if Aunt Didi and those real dumb babies find out?'

Angelica scoffed.

"I'm the smartest and prettiest growed up on Earth, Cynthia, they won't find out. Just trust me on this."

After stating this sentence of importance, Angelica got up and slowly crept into Tommy's room to see if his robotic Reptar doll was still working. She scrolled to turn the volume down, and, slowly attempted to click on the button and make it crawl around the house. When it didn't respond, she groaned and dropped the toy before kicking it.

"Stupid toy."

It seemed that the toy needed more batteries, which Peter would surely take care of later. Obliviously, this didn't help Angelica's plan any further.

She walked to the stairs and attempted not to make any noise.

'This'll be a long ride,' the four-year old thought.

Meanwhile, Susie and the babies were sitting at the dining table, finishing their lunch while Didi attempted to fix more medicine for Angelica.

"You know, I think it's a bit weird how Angelica got sick right during lunch time," Zack remarked before taking a bite of his applesauce.

"Yeah, but she does eat a lot of those yummy cookies," Lil said, smiling as she took a cookie off her plate. "Maybe she got sick from those."

"Everyone knows it's her favorite," Phil added. "She just loves saying that so much, and always eating those cookies."

Zack decided to let the idea go for then, though also that he'd continue developing it if he and the others saw anything fishy. Instead, he changed the subject, talking to Chuckie.

"I thought that your necklace was cool," Zack told Chuckie.

"Uh huh, I bet that your mommy will love it," Tommy added.

Chuckie smiled at his two friends.

"Thanks, you guys," Chuckie said. "I bet that my mommy will love it, but I wanna use a few more colors and make it a lot betterer before I 'cide that it's for my mommy."

Didi finished pouring a few cups of medicine, along with a glass of water, and was about to go upstairs to check on Angelica, though decided to ask the kids how they were doing first. Despite being concerned about Angelica, she also didn't want the kids to feel as if they were being neglected, even though they seemed to be enjoying their lunch.

"Would anyone like more milk?" Didi asked with a smile.

A few of them nodded for 'yes,' while the others shook their head 'no.'

"No," Chuckie himself said.

This was a word that he had learned to say around six months ago when he and his friends went to Paris, which was the same place where he met his sister, Kimi, and his new mother, Kira. She was the same one that he wanted to impress, which was why he was so focused on making an excellent necklace for her.

Didi poured a few glasses of milk for some of them, before walking over to the stairs.

Angelica herself, who was nearly down the stairs, heard this, and quickly tried to climb back up them. However, it appeared that she wasn't as fast as she thought, and Didi managed to see her.

"Angelica, what are you doing?"

Angelica's eyes widened, though she put on another of her best 'I'm sick' faces, before turning around to face her. She gave a cough.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Didi," she said, her voice cracking with every word. "The medicine was taking a bit long and I couldn't stand it anymore."

The excuses were becoming weirder and weirder to Didi, although she'd take anything to avoid her niece getting sick at her home, and for her to feel better.

"Well, alright, sweetie, and sorry that I took so long."

Angelica nodded as she was carried back up the stairs and practically forced to eat so much medicine. Truthfully, she wanted to spit every sip out, though understood that she'd only get in trouble and be found out if she did that. As soon as Didi left, Angelica scoffed.

"That medicine was the yuckiest in the world! Even broccoli is almost better than that."

She cringed after saying 'broccoli,' a vegetable that she had named her 'least favorite food in the whole wide world.' Somehow, it placed even higher than spinach.

Since she wasn't dimwitted, Angelica understood that she'd have to wait even longer to go through with her plan, and therefore waited in bed. That is, until she had to actually use the bathroom.

Once this fact came up, her stomach actually did begin hurting.

"Owe, Cynthia, what _is_ that medicine that Aunt Didi gave me?"

Little did she know, that if her stomach actually had been hurting before, it would have had the opposite effect.

Angelica quickly ran to the bathroom without Cynthia, hands placed over her stomach, and slammed the door.

Once she was finished, she walked out of the bathroom, actually feeling somewhat sickly for once, though that feeling left quickly.

From what she could tell, they were all still finishing lunch, to which she quickly, yet somehow quietly, stalked downstairs. If anyone caught her, she already had a full row of excuses prepared.

Luckily for her, none of them caught her, though she still knew that wasn't an excuse to take her every step slowly. She had been anticipating this moment, although she still took a short moment to think this through.

'Do you really want to do this?' Angelica asked herself. 'What if you do something wrong, or get caught? Is this even the right thing to do? Should we just apologize to those dumb babies?'

Stubbornly, she told herself that the decision she'd made was correct, and that if anything, _all_ of them should be apologizing to _her_. In an attempt to throw any guilt she felt out the window, Angelica forced the idea upon herself that all of this was, frankly, their fault, and that they could've avoided all of this, though chose not to.

'By messing with me, Angelica the Great,' she added in her mind. 'I'm the bestest, and my mommy knows that! Aunt Didi and Uncle Stu and Susie and those really dumb babies should learn that, too!'

Without thinking through her decision any longer, Angelica scowled and ran over to the necklaces that they'd left on the floor. She took no notice that they probably would've put them up if they hadn't assumed that none would be nasty enough to step on them, even by accident.

Quickly, since she was still somewhat worried that she'd be caught, Angelica searched for Chuckie's necklace, though once she overheard Tommy stating that they were finishing the last part of their lunch, Angelica quietly stepped on one that she thought looked like Susie's, which had been her plan all along.

She had been so jealous of Susie the full time, and felt that Susie's necklace had no true purpose and was only there for the sake of causing the blonde jealousy. She couldn't stand it anymore.

Once she picked her foot up, though, to her horror, instead of seeing a cracked rainbow necklace as she had planned, instead she saw a necklace with a mix of light yellow, pink, and blue. It didn't even take her a full minute to realize something horrid.

This necklace did not belong to Susie Carmichael, her 'enemy.' It belonged to none other than Chuckie Finster himself.

After realizing this horror, Angelica quickly ran upstairs and got under the covers, hoping not to damage any more necklaces. She attempted to mask any guilt that she felt, as she had done and succeeded in before, although this time, the guilt was far too strong. For once, she felt extremely sorry for her actions.

'I didn't step on Susie's necklace,' she continued thinking. 'I stepped on _Chuckie's_.'

The regret that she felt was so deep that her stomach continued to spin as she thought of what she had done, and how Chuckie, of all people, probably didn't deserve it. For the first time in a while, Angelica didn't feel mean. She didn't feel rude, or like her lashing out at people was self-defense. She felt _evil_.

'That wasn't revenge,' Angelica thought. 'That was… evil.'

In an attempt to once again mask her remorse, Angelica tried to remember something mean that Chuckie had done to her. A few things came to mind, such as the few times that Chuckie had actually stood up for herself, though in this moment, she actually acknowledged that nearly every time he did something like that, the action was _justified._ Even if it was only for a brief moment, she acknowledged _why_ he did all of this, and it certainly didn't make her feel any better.

'He… did it for a reason,' she thought. 'I stepped on his necklace for something that wasn't even his fault. I can actually see why he did all that.'

Even though it didn't make her feel any better, Angelica recognized that this time, she wasn't going to mask her guilt. If she masked her guilt in this situation, _that_ would not make her worthy of acceptance. She slowly realized this, as the pain in her stomach and the whirl that it was doing only continued.

The guilt that she felt was strong enough for her to nearly cry.

'I'm a really naughty little girl,' Angelica thought, eyes wandering around. 'And that's why my tummy is hurting now.'

She didn't even bother to glance at her Cynthia doll as she sunk under the covers, completely unsure of what to do and feeling regret for what she had done.

'I wonder how they're going to react,' Angelica thought, eyes watering. 'To what I did.'

Meanwhile, as if on cue with the blonde's thoughts, the babies and Susie had just finished lunch, with Dil clapping to express how good it was.

"Yummy," Dil said.

Didi smiled once she saw that Dil liked the food, especially since she didn't know about the necklaces yet. Neither did the others, though they'd find out soon.

The matron picked the few of them whom had been sitting in them up from their highchairs, and made sure to wipe Dil's mouth, which was covered with applesauce and drool.

After wiping his mouth as he giggled, she put him down on the floor to crawl, something that she had been doing more and more recently. They all predicted that Dil would walk soon, and Didi thought it was only helping her to allow him to crawl.

"Alright, kids, have fun while I take care of Angelica," Didi told them.

The kids nodded before walking into the other room. Chuckie himself felt confident in his necklace, especially after his friends had complimented him on it.

"Well, guys, looks like now we can get back to our necklaces," Chuckie said with a smile, closing his eyes as he said this. "I just hope it's good enough for my new mommy."

After saying this, he giggled, continuing to close his eyes with his hands on his hips. However, the eyes had their eyes wide open, and boy, did they _hate_ what they saw. The twins, unable to bear staring at what they were on the floor, decided to break it to Chuckie.

"Uh, Chuckie," Phil said, his voice cracking, showing concern for the freckled toddler.

"Yes, Phil?" Chuckie asked, still confident.

Lil furrowed her eyebrows at the sight, nearly unable to speak herself.

"Your necklace is…" Lil began. "It's, well…"

"Broked," Dil said with a frown, staring at the necklace himself.

Even if he did not understand many things, he knew a broken necklace when he saw one.

After hearing this last word, Chuckie's eyes opened in a millisecond, which the others had always thought was impossible.

"W-What?" Chuckie asked, assuming that this was impossible.

It was, though, because on the rug was a necklace with a few of its beads and strings cracked. Right in the middle, where Chuckie had placed the silver heart that Susie had given him for Kira, was a small crack.

He stared at it in horror, not even moving an inch as the long, silent, deadly, stare at the broken necklace that belonged to him continued.

The experience was nearly just as bad for the others. It pained them to see the horrified expression on Chuckie's face, and simply how hurt he looked. From only one glance at it, they could all tell that he had not put his heart into this necklace – he would put his _soul_ there, it seemed. A few of them, mainly Phil and Lil, had assumed that he was over exaggerating when he said that he wanted this necklace to be the best for Kira. With one glance at the toddler, they knew that he was not.

Chuckie took this seriously, and each one of them could barely understand just how seriously he was taking this.

Seeing this, they were all angry.

'How could anyone do this to such a nice boy's necklace for his mommy?' Susie thought, petrified and angry. 'What did Chuckie do?'

They stared with complete horror in their eyes as Chuckie fell to the ground on his knees, tears streaming down his eyes. At first glance, they assumed he was crying, and didn't comment on it, because he had every reason in the world to.

Tommy, who had known Chuckie the longest, began to notice that Chuckie was showing more anger than he was sadness from the situation. None of them had ever seen it happen in person, but these weren't tears of sadness; Chuckie was crying tears of anger, or, perhaps, even both.

"Who?" Chuckie whispered to himself. "Who would do such a thing?"

They all watched, not moving at all, as the anger rose up in Chuckie. None of them said anything; it was too surprising, frightening, amazing, and overall somewhat satisfying to watch this.

"Chuckie's real angry," Lil whispered to them.

Tommy shook his head fearfully, which would normally surprise them, though Chuckie Finster seemed furious right now, so anything could happen, it appeared.

"Guys, I've never seen Chuckie like this before, and I don't like it," Tommy mumbled fearfully.

Finally, Chuckie, tears streaming down his neck by now, threw himself on the floor forcefully and began kicking things in his path. With so much anger, he even managed to nearly break a flower vase. The toddler did this all while screaming incoherent things, crying as he did so.

As for the others; they all stood back, afraid of what would happen if they moved any closer.

"What is this?" Kimi asked.

"I don't know, but it's serious," Susie whispered.

Didi and Chaz quickly appeared, Chaz attempting to pick Chuckie up to calm him down. Surprised they were, although Didi caught a glimpse of the broken beads on the floor, and frowned.

Noticeably, Chuckie did stop kicking in the air as hard once he was in his father's arms, though struggled to hop out nonetheless.

"Chuckie," Chaz said, feeling miserable, "don't you wanna go home?"

"No!" Chuckie screamed, nearly kicking Didi's glasses off.

The babies and Susie just sat there, a mix of emotions coming through to them.

Since Dil was the youngest and couldn't take it, he began crying, in addition, to which Didi sighed and attempted to pick him up, as well. Anytime Dil cried if someone else was throwing a tantrum that meant that he couldn't take it.

Dil was more cooperative than Chuckie himself, not bothering to kick his feet in the air this time, and therefore making it easier for Didi to try to take him out of the room. She was about to do so, though then the room became a complete riot of tears, excluding Susie who tried to calm them all down.

The two tried everything with the children, though they wouldn't stop screaming and crying. Chaz even tried rocking Chuckie back and forth like he had when Chuckie was still a baby, although even that wouldn't cheer Chuckie up.

It took a few minutes, but they all tired themselves out from so much crying. After this, Kimi herself began quietly crying, before it turned into loud tears. This time, for the sake of the adults, the babies tried to keep in control, as Chaz led Chuckie and Kimi out of the house.

"I'm so sorry, Didi," Chaz said. "They haven't acted up like this all day. I don't know what got into them."

Didi nodded, feeling sorry for Chaz, though understanding the situation completely. She had read in Lipschitz that around two and three, children had to be taught self-control more, otherwise they wouldn't do well in both pre-school and school. She noted that it must be difficult for Chaz and Kira because their children rarely acted up, to which they weren't prepared when they actually did.

Didi gave Chaz a small smile as Chaz walked Chuckie and Kimi out to the car.

As Chaz buckled them up, which was easier now because Chuckie had stopped screaming and kicking, Kimi herself continued sobbing quietly before falling asleep in the car.

While Chaz drove, his son, Chuckie, kept quiet, though continued feeling miserable. He had stopped crying and screaming now, although those two emotions hadn't exactly left his mind yet. Occasionally, he let out a few quiet sobs, which didn't make Chaz feel better himself.

Chaz felt nearly worse than Chuckie and Kimi. As the father, not only did he have to deal with their tantrums, although from what he knew, Kira's birthday probably wouldn't go well.

Despite knowing this, he continued to drive safely, frowning as he did so.

Once they reached home, Chaz put Chuckie and Kimi to bed before letting out a few tears himself.

'I just wanted for your birthday to be great, Kira,' Chaz thought. 'I guess it won't be as special as I wanted.'


	6. The End

Author's note: It is three am in the morning as I am typing up this chapter on September sixth. I am about to go to bed, but want to write the last chapter here and possibly edit it later today, so that I can move onto other planned stories, such as 'No Girls Allowed,' 'Bad Haircut,' and 'Inside Out: Joy and Fear's version.'

Noticed that I've been losing both views and reviewers lately when I checked 'Manage Stories,' yesterday, so not sure what pulled any of you away from the story. Please tell me, even if it does end up a bit rude, since I always like to please fans, and find it a bit disheartening when people stop reading my stories. The amount of viewers for 'Bad Haircut' during chapter three especially disheartened me. I will indeed continue that story for those who actually liked it, but I got four views on that chapter. Maybe it's just that people don't like crossovers as much as they do regular stories, but still. I'd like to know what I need to improve with my writing, and no offense to anyone, but I don't think that ignoring my stories as a whole is helping much.

I apologize since I'm going on about this here, but as a writer, it really does hurt to see people lose interest in your work, and never explain why.

I'll try to keep up with updates whenever I can, and I think that now is a good example. Hope that you like this chapter, since this will be the last chapter to this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rugrats. The series belongs to Klasky Csupo. Zack belongs to celrock.

 **Kira's Birthday**

 **Chapter Six: The End**

In the morning, after all that had happened, Chuckie felt a bit more relaxed. This did not mean that he wasn't angry; he certainly was, and even kicked a stuffed animal not long after he had woken up, although he certainly didn't feel angry enough to break something, just as he had the day before.

His sister, Kimi, and his father, Chaz, weren't doing much better. Although Kimi, too, had calmed down, she still felt broken inside, not even attempting to hide this fact with smiles.

As for Chaz, he had stayed awake the full night making a present for Kira. In the end, he didn't feel as if it were his best work, and most likely would have broken it if Chuckie and Kimi hadn't of woken up.

"Good morning, kids," Chaz tried to say.

The two simply nodded. They weren't feeling up to speaking; Chuckie felt terrible about his broken necklace for Kira, while Kimi had not only apparently lost a friendship in the heat of the moment, though had also gotten her mother what she now saw as a lousy flower for her birthday.

Although they'd be pleased to see Kira again, they all felt that their presents weren't even worthy of her touch. Chaz had stayed awake making his wife a basket, only to decide that this wasn't good enough for Kira. Kimi felt that the flower she had picked for Kira was uncreative and, despite loathing it, carried it in her front pocket to give to one of her friends.

'If I even still have any after how I acted yesterday,' Kimi thought sadly.

As for Chuckie, he himself felt the worst. The three-year old had spent all that time carefully building a necklace for his mother, using colors that he thought she'd like, and, for once, actually believing in his work. After it was all stepped on, he felt as if his heart were broken, especially since he had nothing to give to Kira now.

Not even learning from his father that he would be going over to Tommy's house could cheer him up. The toddler harbored nothing against his friends, since he understood that this was not their fault, although he did not know how they could cheer them up, and he hated being miserable. Whenever Chuckie was miserable, it seemed that he always got those around him in a bad mood, and he would prefer for that not to happen.

Two hours after they had woken up, Chaz walked Chuckie and Kimi over to the Pickles' residence. Both of them knew this, although neither even attempted to smile.

Once they arrived, Chaz knocked on the door while Chuckie and Kimi simply stood there, staring at the door with no expression whatsoever.

Didi immediately opened the door, smiling sympathetically at them all. He could not speak well enough to tell her this, nor did he feel like it was nice, though he had always hated it whenever she did this; it only made him feel even smaller.

"Hello, Chaz," Didi said to Chaz, before looking down at Chuckie and Kimi. "Hello, Chuckie, Kimi."

Without smiling, the two toddlers once again nodded in unison. Didi frowned once she noticed that they were not speaking as much. However, she decided not to bring up the problem to Chaz until she placed both Chuckie and Kimi in the playpen.

Usually, she would've picked them up, although today, it seemed that they both wanted to be independent, instead walking over to the playpen themselves. Didi slightly smiled at this, even if she still was surprised.

Didi walked over and opened the playpen for the two. They looked up to see their friends staring at them with concern as Didi locked the playpen again once they were both inside.

She then walked out to discuss things with Chaz, and find out how he was feeling about things. The matron could certainly assume that Chaz might be depressed, based on his actions.

This left the babies to talk with Chuckie and Kimi themselves.

"So, Chuckie, are you feeling any better after yesterday?" Tommy asked.

The other babies looked on at Chuckie with the same curiosity, a few cringing as they remembered Chuckie's tantrum the day before.

Chuckie frowned, refusing to answer, even to his best friend.

"Maybe we should just leave Chuckie alone today," Zack whispered, feeling empathy for his friend.

Usually, Tommy would refuse to give up, although this time, he thought ahead, and realized what the consequences might be if he continued to probe on the subject. He sighed before sitting down.

"Should we continue playing ball?" Phil asked.

He didn't mean to be selfish, although he didn't feel that feeling sad for Chuckie all day would get them anywhere. That and he was used to a more interesting lifestyle than this.

"No, Phil, how would that make Chuckie feel better?" Zack asked.

It upset them all that Chuckie was feeling depressed, and they didn't know how to help him. They sympathized with him, although they were only babies, therefore having difficulties truly understanding emotions, which only made them feel worse. As Chuckie's friend, they always wanted to help him, and when they didn't know how, they felt as if they were rotting on the inside.

"Is he going to sit there all sad forever?" Lil asked.

Once again, it certainly wasn't that Lil felt no concern for Chuckie. It was simply that, because of who she was, she had ways of expressing this differently.

"He sure won't if we can cheer him up somehow," Tommy responded quietly.

Even Dil, who barely had any idea of what exactly was going on, felt somewhat sorry for Chuckie.

"Chubby," Dil mumbled, which was his way of saying Chuckie's name.

Coming to no conclusion, they continued to sit there, attempting to brainstorm ideas to make Chuckie happy.

"I just wish that no one ever broked his necklace," Kimi said. "Then none of this would've happened."

A few of them nodded in agreement, mumbling about how if they could turn back time, they would find whoever broke Chuckie's necklace and make sure they were punished. This, of course, led to a question from Zack of who exactly broke the necklace.

"Wait, who broke the necklace anyway?" Zack asked.

The others had been too busy sympathizing with Chuckie to think of this. The thought had crossed them before, of course, although it didn't stay in their heads for long.

"Hey, that's a good question," Tommy said, beginning to stand up. "Who did break Chuckie's necklace?"

They all looked at each other with confusion.

"Well, looks like none of us thought of this before, so this is our time to find out," Zack said.

Thinking about it, Lil glared at the ground.

"I bet that it was someone real mean," Lil said.

Having been friends with them for years, Tommy could see where this was going.

"But what if they stepped on it by accident?" Tommy suggested.

Phil shook his head.

"Nah, me and Lillian have broked a lot of stuff before, so we know the difference between breaking something on accident and breaking something on purpose," Phil explained.

Lil nodded, for once in agreement.

"And that was definitely on purpose," Lil said.

"All of us were in the room eating lunch when it happened," Zack pointed out. "It had to be someone who wasn't in the room with us. I don't remember it clearly, but no one took any bathroom breaks, right?"

The others nodded, as they had all stayed seated. That and the majority of them were in diapers, although they assumed that Zack was asking the few of them that were already potty trained.

They all helped him piece together the clues.

"And, from what I remember, Angelica was the only one who was out of the room," Tommy realized.

"So, Angelica is the one who broked Chuckie's necklace," Lil said.

Hearing this, Chuckie immediately turned around with confusion and a bit of anger.

"What?" Chuckie asked.

Zack explained their revelation to him.

"Chuckie, I'm sorry, but, we think that Angelica is the one who broke your necklace for your mommy," Zack explained.

Hearing this idea, Chuckie paled, beginning to frown even more.

"Uh oh, maybe we shouldn't have told him that," Lil whispered.

After this revelation, Chuckie slowly contemplated on things. Angelica was, well, Angelica, and she had been mean to them numerous times before. She yelled at them, broke their toys, and had even once broken Tommy's lamp. By now, they had all forgiven her for those actions, because even if she continued doing these things, it wasn't as if they were ruining their lives. However, never once in his life could Chuckie name a time when Angelica had done anything as mean as this.

Perhaps if it were someone else, Chuckie might think that it happened on accident, and even if he wouldn't fully forgive them, he'd be more willing to at least try. However, this was Angelica Pickles, the same girl who had once told Chuckie that things would be better if he never existed.

'Who's to say that she didn't do this on purpose?' Chuckie thought with horror. 'I mean, this is Angelica! Of course she did it on purpose!'

It pained the others to watch Chuckie's slow breakdown as he realized how everything matched, and that it was rather likely that Angelica would do something like this.

"Of course she did it on purpose," Chuckie whispered to himself.

"Uh, Chuckie, are you okay?" Tommy asked.

Even Tommy himself, known as a fearless baby, had to admit that the way Chuckie was acting was a bit creepy.

"No, Tommy!" Chuckie shouted. "Do I look okay?"

The babies had to admit that no, Chuckie didn't look okay. There were bags under his eyes from not getting enough sleep, and he was clearly having a breakdown about Kira's birthday.

"Well, uh, no, but," Tommy began.

Chuckie changed a bit when they all heard a knock on the door. It made him shrink a bit, and, once again, with the largest frown they'd ever seen, he curled himself into a ball.

"Chuckie, it's okay," Tommy and Zack tried to assure him.

However, Chuckie refused to get up, instead staying there. The three-year old nearly felt like crying, with everything that he felt was expected of him, and the very fact that he had nothing to give to his mother on her birthday. Nothing to show his gratefulness. That didn't feel good at all.

The Rugrats watched with empathy as he shrunk a bit more once Didi actually opened the door.

Kimi didn't feel as depressed as Chuckie, although even she was frowning, her brown eyes cast downwards with sadness. She, too, felt upset about failing to get a gift that she thought was good enough for her mother. Despite this, just to make herself feel better, she'd still give her mother the flower.

They all listened in on Didi, Chaz, and Kira's conversation.

Meanwhile, in the living room, they all spoke to each other. Kira had just arrived and gotten off her plane.

"Why, Kira, it's so great to see you back here!" Didi exclaimed. "How was Japan?"

Kira smiled back at Didi, glad to know that, even if she couldn't see her husband, who seemed to be off in another room, someone cared about her trip to Japan.

"Thank you for asking, Didi, and it was excellent," Kira told her. "I really felt at home there, even eating with chopsticks with my father. They were also glad that I could stay, though were a bit upset to know that Kimi-san couldn't come. How are she, Chuckie, and Chaz doing, by the way?"

It was at this moment when Chuckie, in the other room, attempted to hide himself. As for Kimi, she simply looked at the carpet in disappointment, while the others attempted to sympathize with the Finster children.

In the amount of time that he wanted to take, Chuckie had difficulties finding a hiding spot, which was why by the time that Kira walked in to hug her children, he was still visible.

However, Kira wasn't dumb, and didn't fail to notice this.

"Chuckie, sweetie, are you trying to hide?" Kira asked with a smile.

Chuckie groaned once he discovered that Kira was right behind him, and refused to face her.

This made Kira very worried, since Chuckie often seemed to love her company. Although she attempted to ignore this feeling, it also hurt a bit that Chuckie was doing this on Kira's birthday.

"Didi, do you happen to know what happened to Chuckie?"

Didi frowned and picked Chuckie up, whom began squirming in her arms.

"I'm afraid that I might," Didi told Kira. "I would recommend not telling you on your birthday, however."

Kira nodded with fear as she attempted to calm Chuckie down with her motherly instincts. Seeing her, however, made Chuckie feel guilty. Even if he hadn't stepped on his own necklace, in a way, he still felt like he could have avoided this if he had been more careful.

"Chuckie, what's the matter?" Kira asked.

Kira pulled Chuckie back, though still holding him. Chuckie looked into his mother's chocolate brown eyes, and seeing the worry in them, after his attempts to escape her presence, he finally broke down in front of her.

For once, the three-year old began crying in his mother's arms. It made him feel absolutely terrible because he was doing this on his mother's birthday, although he couldn't keep it all in anymore.

Kimi, seeing this, realized that it was alright to cry in front of their mother. Although such an experience had never happened before, Kimi was often afraid herself that if she showed any emotion other than joy, her parents might be angry with her. However, from watching Chuckie cry in Kira's arms, she realized that Kira was actually sympathizing with him, as opposed to yelling at him.

Wanting her mother to know that she, too, felt miserable, Kimi walked over to her mother's leg and began crying.

Although she was confused, surprised, and sad to see that this was what her children had come to without her around, Kira comforted them and openly sympathized with Chuckie and Kimi.

The other babies watched with both confusion and amazement as this went down.

"Love," Dil whispered.

"That's right, Dilly, love," Tommy said. "Chuckie and Kimi's mommy sure does love them."

In agreement, the others once again nodded at this observation.

Around thirty seconds later, Chaz walked in, only to see this session going on. Chuckie and Kimi were a bit more calmed down by now, with the tears on their faces beginning to dry.

As a father, Chaz felt terrible, and that he hadn't kept a good enough eye on Chuckie and Kimi.

"So you know," Chaz whispered.

Kira turned around, wanting to smile at her husband, although she still had a few questions in mind.

"Know what?" Kira asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That we all had a rough time without you," Chaz told her, hugging his wife.

Kira smiled at him.

"Happy birthday, Kira."

Chaz frowned at her after stating these words that made her insides jump.

"I wish that I could've gotten you something more special, but instead, I made you a basket."

A sad expression on his face, Chaz pulled out a basket that he had made. However, despite him constantly putting down the basket, Kira seemed to love it.

"Oh, dear, I love this basket. It expresses your love for me, and my love for it expresses my love for you."

She kissed him on the cheek after he gave her this gift.

Kimi took this as her turn to give Kira a gift. Although she still wasn't all that confident in the flower that she had plucked herself, Kimi gave Kira the beautiful flower. Kira smiled, smelled it, and placed it in her own hair.

"Kimi-san, this flower is wonderful and smells beautiful. I'll wear it in my hair until it grows old, and even then, I won't throw it out."

Kimi giggled at this, pleased to see that her mother loved the flower that she had given. She hugged Kira, whom, of course, returned the hug.

They all turned to Chuckie, who was standing there, unsure of what exactly he should do.

However, Didi caught onto this, and walked into the other room, excusing herself. She came back with Chuckie's necklace. She had collected it the day that someone had broken it.

Didi set it down in front of Kira with a smile.

"Chuckie made this for you," She began with a smile. "Unfortunately, it was broken yesterday, although I personally still think it's beautiful."

Although he was still feeling a bit shy about his necklace, Chuckie managed to smile as he realized that, even if it was broken, it didn't look horrid.

"Oh, Chuckie, this necklace is of extreme beauty. I don't see why anyone would doubt it. Even if it is cracked, no crack makes a necklace different. This necklace is wonderful. I will wear it every day."

Chuckie had been expecting a completely different answer, and now felt confident and happy enough to hug his mother.

A few minutes after this heartwarming moment, someone knocked on the door. When Didi went to answer it, this ended up being both Angelica and her father, Drew. Drew himself appeared to be very disappointed in Angelica for something.

"I'm sorry to drop this information on you, Deed, but apparently, Angelica is the one who stepped on Chuckie's necklace," Drew explained. "I am so sorry, Chaz, Kira. She wants to apologize for it."

For the first time in a while, it seemed that this was true. When Chuckie walked to the door, he, at first, along with the others, scowled when he saw Angelica. He didn't find it exactly easy to forgive her for something like that.

Despite this, Angelica actually seemed sorry, even frowning. None of them could place what made them one-hundred percent sure that she actually felt bad, although perhaps it was the way her eyes looked. Along with that, this time, she actually didn't rush her apology. It seemed that the four-year old would make it heartfelt.

"Aunt Didi, Mr. Finster, Kira, could I speak to Chuckie alone?" Angelica requested.

Because of what had happened, at first, even the adults looked a bit unsure of themselves, although Kira nodded, followed by the others.

Angelica had Chuckie follow her into another room so that she could apologize. They sat on the couch together.

"Chuckie, I know that I'm always really mean to you and the others," Angelica pointed out. "I tease you, lie to you, and sometimes even get stuff in your hair."

Chuckie felt like cringing at her reminders of the horrid things she'd done to him in the past, especially since, even with the tone that it was in, it felt more like a reminder of why everyone thought she was mean.

"But, at the end of the day, I always come to save you guys' butts. That's because I care. Remember that time I saved you from Josh?"

Of course, the bad times always overshadowed the good, so Chuckie didn't think of that incident as often as he would something like Angelica telling him that the world would be better off without him.

Despite this, Chuckie still nodded, and could remember the day. It was one of the few times when he felt very proud of Angelica.

"Since I care, and since I actually want this to be a real apology, that's why I won't lie to you this time. Got that?"

Although Chuckie wasn't too sure if he believed this, especially because of Angelica's nature, he still nodded, hoping that she was right, and the apology actually was heartfelt this time.

"I'll admit it, I broke your necklace."

Chuckie finally cringed, scowling at the thought. Usually, Angelica would quickly try to change the subject, although she decided to allow him to express his anger, instead of forcing him to sit there.

In the next sentence she said, her tone changed to a softer and sadder one.

"And after I did, I felt really guilty. I didn't even plan on breaking _your_ necklace. I was so jealous of Susie that I wanted to break hers, but you babies were almost finished with lunch, and I was getting nervous, so I broke one that I thought looked like Susie's."

Chuckie couldn't believe that he was buying this, although her tone actually sounded truthful. He felt as if she really did mean it.

'Maybe I can give her another chance,' Chuckie thought.

"And… when it wasn't Susie's, I got so upset with myself that I almost felt like crying."

Of course, Chuckie couldn't believe this at first.

'Why would Angelica almost cry over doing something like that to me?' Chuckie thought.

"Don't give me that look, I really did. And when I got home, I didn't feel any better. I even felt so down in the dumps that my mommy asked me what was wrong, and she's usually more busy with her business than me."

Chuckie frowned at this revelation. He felt that it was oblivious that Angelica's mother, Charlotte, was on the phone more hours of the day than she was with Angelica, and even if Angelica was a brat, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"I didn't wanna tell them what was wrong. Eventually, I went to bed, and I had a nightmare about a lot of stuff. It didn't help that I heared your tantrum from earlier."

With embarrassment, Chuckie frowned. Looking back on it, he had to admit that he had thrown quite a fit.

"Before we went over here today, I finally told my daddy the truth. He was really mad with me at first and said that I wouldn't get any dessert for a week, and that punishment is still true, but even if I hate it I'm gonna try to deal with it, but then, he saw that I actually feel sorry for what I did. And that's the whole truth, Finster. I'm really disappointed in myself."

Leaning back on the couch, Angelica gave Chuckie time to decide whether or not he wanted to forgive her.

Truthfully, Chuckie did _want_ to forgive her, but the difference was that right now, he _didn't_ forgive her. At least, not fully. Every time he thought of her, all that he could think of was the bad times, and her breaking his necklace certainly didn't help his view of her.

"I'm not sure," Chuckie admitted.

Angelica frowned, giving him an 'I should've known' look.

However, in an attempt to cheer her up, Chuckie lightly smiled at her.

"I will forgive you some day. I promise."

The two shook hands before getting up and walking back into the other room with the babies. They were both pleased to see Zack and Kimi making up with each other.

"I'm sorry that I was so mean, Zack," Kimi told him. "I was just really stressed from my mommy's birthday, and I was also kinda feeling left out cuz of everything you did with Susie."

Zack smiled at her, glad that he was getting the truth from his friend.

"I'm sorry too, Kimi," Zack told her. "It was really unlike you, and I was worried, so I got mad when you tried to blame me. And, sorry for making you feel left out, I just felt that I shared a common interest with Susie."

Kimi nodded at this explanation.

"Now, c'mon, guys, let's go party!" Kimi exclaimed with joy.

They all continued to celebrate Kira's birthday with cake that Didi had baked, games, and general fun. At the end of the day, when it was nearly Chuckie and Kimi's bedtime, Chaz and Kira were taking the two home.

"That was a great party, Deed," Chaz told her.

"Yes, we all had a lot of fun," Kira added.

Didi smiled once she learned of this. By now, Stu had come home, and had a party hat on his head as he waved.

Spike began barking while Kira leaned Kimi down to pet him.

With a smile, they said their last goodbyes before Stu closed the door.

Chaz and Kira carried Chuckie and Kimi home with a smile.

Later that night, Chuckie and Kimi were finally being put to bed. Kimi had already fallen asleep as soon as they had gotten home, exhausted from the day. As for Chuckie, he wouldn't go to bed until Kira walked in.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Chuckie-san, and your present today for my birthday was wonderful," She whispered.

This helped Chuckie have good dreams that night.

Overall, the Finster family was happy. Things had gotten rough, although in the end, they had succeeded, just as true families do.

 **6:37 am here, I ought to be getting to bed now!**


End file.
